The Night Patrol
by chassecroise
Summary: Ladybug and Chat Noir independently discover each others' civilian identities, and start doing their own night patrols to secretly learn more about one another. In the process, they find themselves falling even harder for each other—but when they fight together, both feel compelled to pretend that they don't know the truth.
1. Just Once

**_Author's Note:_ ** This is a plot bunny that was just dancing around my head that I needed to explore! I have no idea where this is going to go, but I wanted to try my hand at parallels and Marichat and do something a little bit tonally different from my other ongoing fic. This chapter's just meant to set up the scenario, but I hope you stick around and enjoy the ride! :) (and please come talk to me on tumblr! my ML sideblog is chassecroise)

* * *

It's been two weeks since Adrien found out that Ladybug is none other than his classmate Marinette Dupain-Cheng, and to his surprise, the main emotion he feels is curiosity.

He's been learning a lot about Marinette over the past few months—her likes, her dislikes, her extreme expressiveness, the fact that her parents own the best bakery in Paris, and, most recently, (and purely by accident), the fact that she has a huge crush on him.

He overheard Alya talking to Nino about it one day, how Marinette just can't seem to straight up tell Adrien about her feelings, and Nino promising to do his best to talk to Adrien about her without being obvious.

Thanks to years of experience with modeling and photoshoots and living with an emotionally distant father, Adrien has learned to be pretty good at acting and hiding his feelings, so it isn't too hard to hide the fact that he already knows what Nino is going to say by the time his best friend finally comes up to him and talks to him about Marinette.

But even knowing all of that, he wasn't sure what to do with the information. He's always liked Marinette and they've been on increasingly friendly terms as of late, but the fact of the matter is that he barely knows her, and she barely knows him; after all, he's only gone to Francoise-Dupont for the past year.

So why does she have a crush on him? He's curious, and in the meantime, falling harder and deeper for Ladybug with every mission they work on together.

And then, the day after his conversation with Nino, it happened. He and Ladybug were both running out of time on their Miraculous, and they split up immediately. As he ran around looking for a place to hide and de-transform, he saw her leap behind a lamp post.

He hadn't meant to look—he tried to avert his eyes, but the magic was too fast, and there she was. Marinette. Walking away casually, even whistling, like she hadn't just spent the past hour battling a gigantic purple slug who had it out for rude international tourists.

It was fascinating, and he spent that whole night trying to reconcile what he knew about Ladybug with what he knew about Marinette, and he came out of the process wanting to learn more about about the girl in his class, who is much more of a mystery than Adrien could have ever imagined.

He's at a loss for how to do it, when he remembers that Chat Noir knows where Marinette lives, and has even helped "save" her from an akuma once. Of course, he knows now that Ladybug planned for it to be that way, but she doesn't know that he knows.

Maybe he can use that, play it off like a night patrol, checking up on the neighborhood, dropping by for some conversation, and get to know her that way. He'll just come by once, and see how she reacts. If she tells him to go away, he will. But it's an idea and a chance he doesn't want to pass up.

* * *

It's been two weeks since Marinette found out that Chat Noir is none other than her classmate and love of her life (though Tikki might disagree), Adrien Agreste. To her surprise, the main emotion she feels is concern.

She's always tried to avoid thinking about Chat Noir's personal life, but now that she knows who he really is, she can't help but marvel at how he fits in crime fighting with the hundreds of other things on his schedule. How does Adrien keep his cool the way he does? How can he handle all the pressure?

Marinette thought she knew a lot about about Adrien, but it's become abundantly clear that interviews in fashion magazines and casual conversations in class and during projects is hardly enough to get to know someone. She's still having trouble coming to terms with the fact that her sweet and charming classmate is the same person as her flirty, self assured, and cocky partner. What is his true self?

She wants to know, and she wishes she could ask him. But she herself has imposed this policy of secrecy, for the safety of both them and for Paris. And even though she's sure that he would jump at the chance to learn who she is, she doesn't feel like it's right to compromise the safety of the citizens of Paris just because she wants the gratification of learning more about her crush.

But still, the more Marinette thinks about it, the more she admires him, and the harder it is for her to be casual around Chat Noir. Over the past year, she's become fond of her partner, and even though she always bats away his flirtatious overtures, she's found herself wondering on more than one occasion what it might be like if she actually went along with them. But then she always pushes it away, because of Adrien.

And then, two weeks ago, it happened. Marinette had just de-transformed and was walking down the street, when she saw a flash of black and green dart behind an empty newsstand. Even though she had just defeated an akuma, she thought perhaps that it was another one, and so she looked more closely—only to find that it was no akuma, but her partner, Chat Noir. He had a confused expression on his face, like he had just learned something that had totally blown his mind.

Her heart clenched with worry for him, and her first instinct was to go to him. And in fact, she almost did, but then she heard the familiar beeping sound of his Miraculous, and with a sudden whoosh of magic, his transformation disappeared. Leaving one Adrien Agreste and a totally shocked Marinette Dupain-Cheng in its stead.

She'd ducked behind another lamp post and tried to put together the pieces, wondering how on earth it was possible. She's spent the last fourteen days staring even more intensely at the back of his head in class, but thankfully, Alya hasn't said anything. Marinette imagines that her friend probably thinks it's just another symptom of her lovesickness, which she is thankful for.

But simply staring doesn't answer any of Marinette's questions. She feels a deep, compelling need to get to know Adrien the way she knows Chat Noir. But how can she get him alone? He's always surrounded by people and there's always someone who needs his time.

And then one day, when she sees him sitting on the edge of the school steps by himself, scrolling through the Ladyblog on his phone, it strikes her. She could just visit him in his own room, as Ladybug.

It's a crazy idea, but she and Chat are always doing night patrols and checking up on citizens who have been akumatized in the past. They'll drop in and quickly say hello, making sure that everything is fine, before disappearing back into the night.

Maybe she can use that, play it off like a night patrol, checking up on the Agreste Mansion, dropping by for some conversation with the handsome boy she once saved from The Mime. She'll just come by once, and see how he reacts. If he tells her to go away, she will. But it's an idea and a chance she doesn't want to pass up.


	2. A Casual Evening Stroll

_**Author's Note**_ : First up: Marichat! Also, I just really like making sure Adrien eats well, the poor boy just wants to eat and I love feeding him lolol

* * *

It's Monday night, which means that Chat Noir is out on patrol.

Though it's an early autumn night, the wind has a subtle undercurrent of ice, and he shivers a little bit as he leaps across the rooftops of Paris towards his destination.

Even though Ladybug and Chat Noir have always made sure to share as few personal details as possible, they've always been aware that they're both students, so they split night patrol duty—Chat Noir has Mondays and Thursdays, they do a joint patrol on Wednesdays, and Ladybug in in charge of Tuesdays and Fridays.

Chat Noir no longer remembers why they chose those specific dates, but both of them have gotten used to the cadence and the rhythm of the schedule, and there's a certain comfort to knowing that he has a few hours to take in the night air, an escape from schedules and the restriction of life in the mansion as he scales the heights of Paris.

But tonight, there's only one rooftop that Chat Noir is interested in scaling. He's supposed to be in a different _arrondisement_ than the one he's in, but there's a reason. His intention tonight is to patrol the area around 12 Gottlieb Road.

He sits on a rooftop watching the bakery from afar, and sees Marinette come out onto her balcony with a folding chair and a blanket. Chat wonders at first what she's doing out there in the dark, but he realizes that she's out there to stargaze. She seems more relaxed than he's ever seen her, and it's a fascinating sight. Hers is a face that is extremely expressive, and Chat senses that the peaceful calm on her face is a rare vision.

He wonders how often she's leaped onto her balcony after fighting an akuma and if she waits until she's inside to de-transform. And he wonders when she became Ladybug, and how she managed to balance her two lives, especially considering how involved her parents are in her life.

He watches her until he realizes he's not here to just be a silent observer, but to talk to her. For a moment, he almost psyches himself out and leaves, but then he takes a deep breath and vaults across the street and onto her balcony, landing right into her flowerbed. Marinette jumps up at the noise, immediately assuming a combat position, until she realizes who he is.

"Chat Noir!" she says, stepping back in surprise. "What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be—"

Though she stops herself in time, of course, Chat Noir knows what she was about to say. _Aren't you supposed to be somewhere else tonight?_

Still, he pretends he didn't hear the second part.

"I, uh, I heard something about a threat in this area, and I came to check it out," he begins, and Marinette immediately frowns, brows furrowing, forgetting to be careful.

"Shouldn't you let Ladybug know about that?" she asks, her tone slightly stern, and he can see why she was chosen to be the heroine of Paris. She's got leadership in spades. But that still doesn't explain why she has a crush on him, Adrien. Which is why he came here in the first place, to figure it out.

Not that he's doing a great job bringing that particular subject up, considering that he's already got her on edge. This really isn't how he planned for this conversation to start off.

He smiles, a wide feline grin. "Well, I don't like to think of beautiful princesses in distress!"

"….Right," responds Marinette, raising an eyebrow. "Are you sure that everything's okay? I don't think that Ladybug would want you to face any danger alone."

Of course she wouldn't go for that. He doesn't know why he thought it would work. As Ladybug, she always shuts him down. It only makes sense that Marinette would too.

He sighs, and to his surprise, Marinette notices immediately.

"Is something wrong?" she asks. "Ladybug and Chat Noir, they usually only make personal visits to houses where people have been akumatized. I mean—at least that's what my friend Alya told me. She's the one who was turned into Lady Wifi, remember?"

Chat nods, only half listening while he tries to come up with a legitimate reason to explain why he's there. He follows up with a half-baked excuse, but even he doesn't believe the words coming out of his mouth.

* * *

Marinette notices how Chat's eyes go wide when she scolds him about not contacting Ladybug, and she quickly realizes that she's being a bit too obvious, that she needs to tone it down. But still, she can't help being a little curious.

She wonders when Adrien started getting interested in wanting to get to know her better, to the point where he decided it would be a good idea to visit her as Chat Noir. She's surprised; it seems uncharacteristically shy of him. Why can't he just talk to her at school?

It surprises her, as well, that he's decided to visit her the night before she plans to visit him at the Agreste mansion. But then again, they always have been incredibly in sync. Perhaps it's not that much of a surprise that they've been thinking the same way.

At the same time, knowing now who Chat Noir really is, she's amused by his exaggerated overtures in front of her. Now that she knows, she seeks out Adrien in every movement he makes, and she can't believe she never saw it before—it's everywhere, from the casually graceful way he leans against walls to the fleeting glimpses of kindness in his eyes that inevitably come to the surface, no matter how casual and flirty he acts.

It's here now, in the way he's looking at her, slightly bemused, the way Adrien always does when she acts silly in front of him. Except this time, he's the one who fell into the flowerbed on her balcony at 10pm and tried to play it off as an intentional thing.

She should have started getting suspicious when Adrien bowed to her that one day when he came to help her talk to Uncle Cheng, but how could she have possibly put the pieces together even then?

She's still having a little bit of trouble now, and she watches in silence as Chat continues to come up with increasingly outlandish explanations for what he's doing here.

Finally, he shrugs and waves his hands in the air, conceding defeat.

"You got me. I don't really have a reason to be here tonight. I just wanted to stop by and say hello, and maybe _purrsuade_ you to share some croissants with your local hero, since I hear this is the best bakery in Paris. What do you say?"

It's obviously a lie. Marinette doesn't doubt that he would be happy to eat anything she would give him, but from the way Chat's eyes are shifting around nervously, it's pretty clear that food is not the reason he decided to come here instead of patrolling Montmartre.

But she can play along. " _Merci_ , Chat Noir, that's so kind of you! Why didn't you just say so? May I ask who told you about our patisserie?"

Chat's eyes widen as he scrambles for an explanation.

"Oh, uh, you wouldn't know him—but he's been here before, and he didn't get a chance to actually eat them, but they looked _pawsitively_ delicious, and ever since he told me about them, I've been dying to taste them!"

Marinette immediately realizes that Chat Noir is talking about the time that he came over to practice for the gaming tournament, and the multiple times she sent her overeager parents back downstairs with the food they'd made for him, and how excited Adrien had been to at least get a chance to eat the quiche.

It makes sense now. And so this is the first thing Marinette is learning about Adrien Agreste, courtesy of Chat Noir: he doesn't go about things directly. He's too shy. The mask gives him freedom, and it's kind of fascinating to watch, really. It's not something she would have expected from Adrien, that he's got this whole other side to him that he never lets loose as a civilian. She wonders how much is bravado and overcompensation, and how much is what he really feels. Maybe it's somewhere in the middle.

The second thing she's learning about him: he loves horrible puns. She's always thought that Adrien had a more subtle sense of humor, but even if he's putting on a show as Chat Noir, those horrible jokes have to come from a genuine place, and she is worried about how many more terrible puns he has stored up there in his beautiful but ridiculous head. At least he looks cute doing it.

The third thing: he's always posing. Marinette imagines it must be a model thing, but the boy just cannot sit still, and he's spent the past ten minutes moving around the terrace, stretching his arms and leaning against different objects, the breeze always tousling his hair in just the right way. It would be infuriating if it weren't also both incredibly attractive and cute at the same time.

She feels an intense rush of affection for her kitty as he grins at her again, and it takes all of her resistance not to just reach out and call him her _petit minou_ right then and there as he leans against the edge of the balcony with a casual elegance that he's completely unaware he possesses.

Even so, Marinette quickly realizes that they can't stay out on her balcony forever. As used as the citizens of Paris are to seeing Ladybug and Chat Noir leaping around Paris, they are sure to notice if he is by himself, talking to a random civilian girl. She's not interested in having that happen. They can't stay outside.

So she turns to him without thinking and asks, "Chat, would you like to come inside? I can, um, get your croissants from downstairs while you wait."

Chat perks up. That means she doesn't want him to leave. "Of course, if that's what you'd prefer!"

"Alright then, follow me."

Two steps in, Marinette realizes with growing horror that every single picture of Adrien that she's put up on her walls is still hanging there, and she wants to punch herself for not remembering. But it's too late now. She's asked Chat Noir to follow her into her room, and she can't ask him to stop now.

So she clenches her fists and continues into her room and turns on the light. Chat's gaze follows her own and falls upon the largest poster in the room, a two-page spread of the new Agreste Fall collection that Adrien had just modeled for last month. His eyes widen as he turns to scan the rest of the walls, which he is now realizing is covered with carefully cut out magazine pages of his other photoshoots.

These weren't here the last time he visited, to practice for the video game tournament. She must have hidden them before he came. Clearly, she's got a bigger crush on him than he thought. Alya wasn't kidding.

His mouth quirks up in a little smirk as he sits on her computer chair and rolls up to the wall to get a closer look at the display. "I see you're a big fan of Adrien Agreste."

Marinette groans and plops onto her bed, resisting the temptation to scream into a pillow. How will she make eye contact with him tomorrow? And how will she be able to act normal on patrol when she sees him again as Ladybug?

But then she figures that he must be here at her house for a reason. He's clearly curious about learning more about her too, and maybe, just maybe, he finds it flattering, instead of weird. At any rate, it's clear that he has his own reasons for being more comfortable talking to her as Chat Noir than he is as Adrien. Maybe the mask makes it easier for him to ask questions that he can't ask her as his normal self.

So Marinette isn't too surprised when he follows up with, "Why do you like him so much? Is it because of the way he looks?"

She purses her lips and cocks her head with a shrug. "Well, yes. And no. It's more than that. I mean, at first, it was because I thought he was really cute, and I still do. But then I started getting to know him a little better. And he's sweet and kind and a good friend. I still don't know him very well, though. I wonder what he'd think if he knew about these pictures. I know it's kind of weird."

Marinette pauses and prepares for a witty response from Chat Noir, a pun-filled repartee. After all, she's talking about him to his face. He must have something to say.

But when she is met with silence, she turns to look at him, and she's startled by the sheer confusion in his eyes. And she realizes that he had no idea about any of those things, or that she felt that way about him.

Suddenly, it clicks. That's why he's here. Adrien must have found out that she had a big crush on him (she'll figure out whether the spillage is courtesy of Alya or Nino and deal with it later), and wanted to learn more about it without making her nervous, and decided that the best way to go about it would be to visit her as Chat Noir.

Which wasn't a bad idea. Marinette couldn't be nervous around Chat Noir if she tried, even with the knowledge that behind the mask he wears is Adrien Agreste.

And yet it's the strangest thing, because if there's anything Marinette is aware of, it's the fact that she's never been subtle about her crush on Adrien. She's pretty sure that everyone in class knows that she likes him, and even Rose has commented on occasion about how red her cheeks get whenever he says something nice to her. How could he have never noticed?

But maybe he just wasn't looking for it. Marinette has certainly missed all the signs that seem obvious now.

They sit there in silence while Marinette waits for him to process this new information, until she's tired of waiting.

"Chat Noir? What's on your mind, _chaton_?"

She doesn't even realize she's using the nickname, but it puts him at ease, and he grins at her.

"Sorry! I'm, uh—I'm just hungry. For those croissants I mentioned earlier. Think I can get some?"

Chat is saying it to change the subject—he's not sure what to do with the information yet—but even as he does, he realizes that he really is pretty hungry. He hasn't eaten much in the past week, given that he hasn't had much by way of free time in between five after school photoshoots and fighting several akumas in a row.

Marinette sighs with mock irritation. "Come on, let's go downstairs. I'll take you to the kitchen."

"Won't your parents wonder what I'm doing here?"

Marinette laughs. "No, they're asleep already. It's pretty tiring to run a bakery fulltime. My parents always go to bed early. Anyway, I don't mind. I know that heroes are always hungry. But we need to keep the lights off, so they don't wake up."

Chat follows her silently as she leads the way down the stairs by the light of her cellphone. He lightly holds onto her shoulder as they tiptoe down the hallway, even though they both know he can see better than her in the dark.

Marinette's lips quirk up at the thought that she is sneaking around her house with the boy of her dreams, but it's not to do anything remotely romantic. No, it's to feed croissants to her silly underfed _chaton_. Oh, the irony.

As though he can read her thoughts, Chat's stomach growls and he chortles.

"Looks like my stomach is _feline_ a little _clawful_."

"Tone it down, kitty cat, or you won't get any catnip," responds Marinette in a warning tone.

Chat Noir smiles. This is what he loves the most about Ladybug, their comfortable banter, the way she knows how to dish it out as well as she can take it. He knows from watching Marinette interact with the others in the class that it's a natural trait of hers, but it's the first time he's experiencing it in its unfiltered form, and it's fascinating.

"Oh, come on, _ma princesse_ , my stomach can't help itself."

"I don't know how Ladybug puts up with you," she responds.

"That's because she loves me," quips Chat nonchalantly, until they both realize what he's just said, and blush furiously in the darkness.

As they enter the kitchen, she turns the lights on and leads him over to the small fridge where her parents keep the food for their family. She pulls out a small plate filled with croissants and warms it up in the microwave before handing it over to him.

Even though Chat Noir's eyes glitter mischievously as he accepts the plate with a cheeky grin, he can't hide the grateful look in his eyes, and Marinette feels a sense of deep contentment as she watches him wolf the whole thing down in just a few bites.

"Thanks, Marinette," he says. "That was…"

" _Don't say it_ —"

"Purrfect."

"Aaagh! _No_!"

The faint peals of a bell tower sound in the distance, and the two of them realize that it's far later than they thought it was.

"So I—"

"Should probably get going, I know. You need to finish your patrol. Is there anything else you'd like to eat before you head out?"

Chat Noir shakes his head. " _Merci_ , but no. Those croissants were terrific. This cat's tummy is as happy as a clam."

Marinette grins. "I'm glad to hear that."

She leads him back up to her room and they walk back onto her balcony, and Chat turns to face her as he pulls out his baton and prepares to leave.

"So, I'll see you around?" says Chat, a note of uncertainty dipping into his voice.

"Yes," says Marinette, quiet, but steady, and they can both feel the energy shifting in the air.

Almost unconsciously, she reaches for his hand and squeezes it, feeling the warmth emanating through the fabric of his gloves. She hears him gasp softly, a sharp intake of breath, and smiles as his fingers tentatively curl around hers.

They stand there for what must be mere seconds, but feels like an eternity, but finally, Chat lets go.

"I'll—I'll catch you later then," he responds, voice slightly breathless and a little hoarse, and he leaps off the balcony and disappears into the night, illuminated only by the moonlight reflecting off his suit.

Marinette smiles as she watches him vanish into the horizon. She's glad he came to visit; she's learned more about Adrien in one evening than she has all year. And she's going to learn more once she visits the Agreste Mansion tomorrow night.

Of course, it all depends on how Adrien will react when he sees Ladybug tapping on his window. Hopefully he'll be happy to see her. Fingers crossed.


	3. Ball Gowns and Fist Fights

**_Author's Note:_ **

This chapter was so much fun to write! It might be the most action packed thing I've ever written, and it was all inspired by this amazing fanart by moeskine on tumblr! ( post/139374891626/moeskine-ladybug-step-back-i-got-this)

I remember seeing it ages ago and really wanting to write something for it, and the scenario fit perfectly into this fic. Hope you enjoy it!

* * *

On Tuesday, Marinette spends all of first period sketching furiously in her notebook. It's not an unusual sight; she's often most creative in the morning, and Alya is used to watching her churn out multiple dress designs and sketches in a matter of minutes. But when she looks over to see what Marinette has drawn today, she's baffled by what she sees.

All of the sketches consist of a figure that looks oddly like Ladybug entering a fancy mansion through a window in various unusual ways.

"What is that? When did you start drawing comics instead of fashion designs?" she asks, bemused.

"Oh, I'm, uh, working on a collaboration with Nathanael!" responds Marinette quickly. It's the first thing she can think of.

"Since when?!"

"Since yesterday. He, uh, just asked me to think of some ideas for his new comic, so that's what I've been working on."

"Oh, well, I guess that explains why you're so distracted," says Alya, though she isn't completely convinced. But she decides not to press the issue after she sees the veiled look in Marinette's eyes.

* * *

Though Marinette's plan is originally to visit Adrien early in the evening, once he returns from fencing practice, Marinette pulls out her drawings and debates the merits of how to go about actually entering his room with Tikki for almost two hours until the kwami points out that it's past 7, and she's already late.

Marinette quickly transforms into Ladybug and rushes through the streets of Paris, weaving through narrow alleyways and vaulting over rooftops until she reaches the Agreste mansion. She is surprised to see that the mansion is fully illuminated, spilling light from all angles onto the street. Only one window is dark: Adrien's room.

Ladybug swings onto the balcony and peers inside, and sees that the room is empty. She's confused; according to the chart she's put together, Adrien should have been back by now. Has his schedule changed?

She perches on top of the balcony and ponders what could have possibly happened when she hears the faint strain of classical music coming from downstairs, and it hits her. How could she have possibly forgotten? Tonight is the annual Fall Collection Gala at the Agreste Mansion, a private party where all of the top designers showcase their most exciting designs for the socialites of Paris.

Marinette avidly reads the coverage every year, and she can't believe that she's forgotten it was tonight. Of course that's where Adrien is.

She sighs as she realizes that there's no way that she's going to be able to talk to him in private at all—he's going to be surrounded by people all night. Still, some instinct tells Ladybug that she should stick around. Though she doesn't know why, she decides to listen to her gut, and she descends down the side of the balcony and hides in the shadows in the courtyard, next to a large window looking into the main ballroom, where all the guests are mingling.

It's a good view, so at the very least, even if nothing happens and she doesn't meet Adrien, there is an upside: she'll be able to say that she attended at least one Fall Collection Gala in person instead of watching a grainy livestream on her desktop.

* * *

Ever since he became the face of the brand, the Agreste Annual Fall Collection Gala has easily become Adrien's least favorite social event of the year.

When he was younger, it was fun; he would slip away from his mother and dart in between the women and men in fancy formalwear, eavesdropping on their conversations and getting far too many hor d'oeuvres from the wait staff, who were all charmed by the small boy with bright green eyes and carefully combed blond hair.

But now, Adrien is the center of attention, the young Agreste heir, and all eyes are on him as he walks around the ballroom and greets all of the important guests, always followed by his silent bodyguard.

He's certainly dressed for the part tonight; he is wearing one of the suits from the collection, a classy number that combines a single-breasted coal black jacket with a notched lapel and an ivory white collared shirt underneath with slim straight-legged trousers. A jaunty bowtie completes the look.

Adrien finds it easy to play the role, to smile politely and ask the right questions, but as he listens to yet another socialite discuss her latest holiday in Monaco and the pieces from the RTW Resort collection that she wore at all the parties she went to, he can't help but fantasize about a certain set of dark pigtails and cerulean blue eyes, and he wonders what she's up to tonight. He hopes she's having a better time than him, whatever she's doing.

Out of the corner of his eye, Adrien notices a heated exchange that is taking place at the entrance of the main ballroom between an older female guest and Nathalie. The woman looks vaguely familiar, though he can't exactly place where he's seen her. Though they are speaking in hushed tones, it is clear that the woman is highly incensed, and the angrier she gets, the cooler Nathalie becomes. It is her particular talent, and Adrien is sure it's the main reason his father keeps her around.

" _Where is he_?" hisses the woman, low and furious. She is clutching a copy of the fall collection magazine, squeezing it with both hands, and the rage emanating from her is raw and fierce. From the way she is hunched over, it is clear to Adrien that she is not accustomed to feeling such intense anger, and he watches with increasing concern.

"I'm afraid I don't know what you are talking about, Madame, but I request that you lower your voice, or you will be removed from this gala immediately," replies Nathalie, her clipped tones laced with razor sharp ice.

"Don't play dumb, you idiotic woman! You know I want to see Gabriel Agreste. I must speak to him this instant!"

"As I have mentioned before, Monsieur Agreste is unable to attend tonight's event, due to a prior commitment. If the matter is urgent, I can schedule you in for a remote conference call next week," responds Nathalie, pushing up her glasses in a dismissive gesture. "Now, if I have made myself clear, I must attend to the other guests."

"I _cannot_ wait. Ring him up right now! How dare he insult my son like this?"

"Madame Artois, as I have repeatedly told you, simply being an employee of Gabriel Agreste, regardless of your status in the company, does not entitle your son to a modeling contract. I don't know how I can make this clear to you, but Arthur simply didn't make the cut in the last round of auditions."

"That's rich, coming from the king of nepotism! If that is the case, why has his own son appeared in every single campaign from the age of 3? Are you actually trying to tell me that he _earned_ it? That's absurd! The only difference between Arthur and Adrien is the Agreste name."

Adrien frowns. He remembers Madame Artois now; she is one of his father's senior designers, and has been with the company for a very long time. She is a skilled tailor, a pioneer in children's and preteen formal wear. The upper circles love her styles, and his father loves the money her lines bring in. Adrien has only met her son once, when she brought him into the studio to model one of her new designs, but it was clear even to him that though Arthur wore the clothes well, he was uncomfortable in front of the camera.

Adrien doesn't hate modeling. In fact, he actually enjoys it. He's comfortable in front of a camera and is friendly with everyone on set, and he appreciates the beauty of the clothing the designers come up with. So he doesn't mind the long hours, though they're tiring, and it's hard to keep up the perfect image his father expects from everyone. But he does work extremely hard, and it's disheartening to hear that one of his father's most respected employees thinks that the only reason Adrien models is because of his father. He wants to tell her it's not true, but he also knows it would be a bad idea to get involved in the heated discussion.

"Adrien Agreste is the most successful teen model in the history of this company. There is no comparison between him and your pathetic son. And as none of your designs are being featured in tonight's showcase, my friendly suggestion is that you leave," says Nathalie, sharp and cutting, before she turns around and walks away.

Adrien winces as he watches Madame Artois shrink as she absorbs the full impact of the insult. He makes a motion to go up to her and apologize, but the Gorilla places a firm hand on his shoulder and stops him from moving forward.

"Nathalie shouldn't have said that!" he says with frustration. "I have to go apologize!"

The Gorilla shakes his head and tightens his grip, and Adrien knows any further protests are futile. As he watches her turn on her heel and storm out of the ballroom, he can tell from the way she's walking that there's a storm coming.

* * *

Ladybug shrinks behind the wall as one of the guests comes outside, an elegant looking middle aged woman dressed to the nines in an elegant black ball gown, red heels, and a Birkin bag, her brunette hair swept into a high bun. She seems both distressed and furious and is clutching something in her hands, though Ladybug can't tell what it is in the darkness.

The sky suddenly seems to get darker and an electric pulse fills the air, and Ladybug warily watches the woman with bated breath as she hunches over with anger. This is it—the moment that she knew would come.

And in a matter of milliseconds, the woman is enveloped by a purple-black cloud of darkness and transformed into a spider-like giantess with chalk white skin, the ribbons on her gown now pulsing waves of energy, her fingers long and curved, her ruby red lips curled into a vicious snarl as she lets out a piercing shriek and bursts into the ballroom.

" _I am Le Vengeur, and I seek vengeance on Adrien Agreste!_ "

* * *

The Gala descends into chaos as Le Vengeur ravages through the ballroom, pinning people to the walls as she searches for Adrien. Nathalie and the Gorilla run to him and try to get him out of the way, but Adrien pushes past them and runs to face her, recognizing who she is.

"Madame Artois! You don't need to do this—we can work something out for you and Arthur!" shouts Adrien.

"YOU! You are who I want. And I am _not_ Madame Artois. I am Le Vengeur, and I will get vengeance for the wrong that has been done to my son. And I'm starting with _you_."

She shoots a beam of dark energy towards him, but it is immediately knocked off course by a very familiar black and red yo-yo, and Adrien whips his head to see Ladybug standing there, eyes fierce and arms akimbo.

She looks beautiful and powerful against the chaos of the crowd, and Adrien finds himself momentarily breathless as she walks in between him and Le Vengeur and shields him with her arm.

"Ladybug!" he exclaims, low and excited, his cheeks flushed. "You're here!"

She nods and says, "Step back, I've got this."

Adrien shakes his head and turns to look fiercely at Le Vengeur. "No—I can help. Trust me!"

Ladybug grabs his wrist and pulls him to the ground as Le Vengeur screams and shoots another pulse of energy towards them. As she pushes him underneath a banquet table to find cover, he tries not to think too hard about the fact that she's lying on top of him, her body pressed tightly against his—and how she's breathing hard, each heartbeat pulsing against his chest.

A lock of Ladybug's hair brushes against his cheeks, light as a feather, as she leans across him and quickly pushes back the tablecloth to get a glimpse of Le Vengeur, who is blasting black beams of energy at every table and bursting them apart. It's clear that they don't have much time.

She ducks back under the tablecloth and leans in close to his face.

"Who is she?" she whispers in his ear. "Why is she so angry at you?"

"It's Madame Artois," he responds, blushing at the alarmingly close proximity of her lips to his cheeks. If he moves even an inch—

"Irene Artois, the top Agreste designer?" says Ladybug, confused. "What happened?"

Adrien is surprised for a moment before he remembers that Ladybug is Marinette. Of course she knows who Madame Artois is. She probably knows more about each of the designers than he does, even though he grew up with them.

"Her son auditioned to be a model for the fall collection and wasn't chosen," says Adrien.

"—and she's angry that you're the face of the brand, isn't she?" says Ladybug, connecting the dots.

"Yes," says Adrien.

"So where could her akuma be?"

"I'm not sure. Last I saw her, she was arguing with Nathalie—my father's secretary—and then she left."

"Was she holding anything?"

"I don't remember. We need to face her again to see it."

"Okay, but you should find a safe place to hide," says Ladybug.

Adrien shakes his head. "No way. I'm coming with you. We'll catch her faster if we're together."

* * *

Ladybug sighs as Adrien insists on coming with her. She wants to give him a chance to get away, to transform into Chat Noir and join her in the fight, but it doesn't seem like he wants to do that.

She can see from the look in his eyes that he's already focused on the battle, as though he's already transformed. But he's not, and she's worried that he's going to get hurt. Her protective instincts have kicked in, and even though she knows that Adrien could probably hold his own in a fight—he's a master at fencing, after all—she still worries about what could go wrong unless he's there as Chat Noir. This is fighting an akuma, not a school competition. But still, she can't deny her _minou_ when he wants to help.

So she says okay.

"What's wrong?" asks Adrien, as though there's no reason for her to be concerned that he's about to fight an akuma with her without any of his magical powers.

Ladybug exhales slowly. She understands now why Chat Noir is so quick to jump into the fray for her—it's one of Adrien's natural traits.

"Nothing," she says. "You sure you want to come? Last chance to back out." _Last chance for you to stay safe._

"Of course," says Adrien.

Ladybug nods and extends a hand to help him get up. Briefly, they both think of the previous night, but their attention is immediately diverted as they dart out from underneath the table just as Le Vengeur sends a blast towards it.

"Where are you hiding, you entitled little brat?" she screams.

Ladybug turns to Adrien. "Can you distract her while I look for where the akuma is hiding?"

Adrien simply smiles at her with a self-assured feline grin and nods. And though he says nothing, Ladybug can just see the words floating above him in the air: _I'm great at distracting people, my lady._

He turns to face Le Vengeur. "Hey, over here!" he shouts, waving his arms in the air. "Bet you can't catch me!" he adds with a cocky smile, sticking his tongue out at the akuma and jumping over the fallen tables.

Ladybug laughs as the akuma howls angrily and follows Adrien around the ballroom, but he's too nimble for her. He has a distinct advantage over the villain; he knows every nook and cranny of the mansion from years of exploring it while he's bored, especially the ballroom, which is massive, but has a surprising number of places to hide.

He darts in and out of visible view; it's a cat and mouse game where the cat is playing the role of the mouse, and he's going to win.

As Le Vengeur is completely consumed by her search for Adrien, Ladybug watches her carefully from the rafters, but can't figure out where her source of power is coming from. It occurs to her that it was probably what Madame Artois was holding when she saw her in the garden, but she has no idea what it was.

Either she or Adrien will have to get closer to figure it out.

But to do that, they'll need to bring some luck into the game.

* * *

Adrien is running from one pillar to the next when he hears the familiar call.

"LUCKY CHARM!"

After a silence of two seconds comes the follow up.

"A box cutter? What am I supposed to do with this?" she says, confused.

As Adrien turns his head to look at Ladybug, Le Vengeur captures him and pins him against a wall. Ladybug gasps and runs toward him as as his back slams against the wooden beams and he winces at the impact.

Le Vengeur leans into Adrien's face, her voice dripping with venomous scorn. "Looks like your little superheroine has run out of luck. Much like you. Once I'm done with you, the only person who will be the face of this brand will be my son."

Adrien scowls. "That's what you think, Madame Artois. Ladybug will never lose!"

"Pah!" spits Le Vengeur. "I think someone needs to stop talking." She opens her bag and quickly pulls out a roll of masking tape before immediately snapping it shut, and that's when Adrien sees it—the crumpled copy of the Agreste Fall Collection magazine she had been holding while talking to Nathalie, and suddenly it all makes sense.

"Ladybug! The akuma is in the magazine! It's inside Madame Artois's purse!"

"What?!"

"You need to get her purse!" he yells, before scowling at Le Vengeur and punching her right in the face.

She keels over from the sheer force and drops the bag, and Ladybug immediately swings over and picks it up, slicing it open with the box cutter and pulling out the crumpled magazine.

She quickly rips it apart and as suspected, the dark purple butterfly flutters up into the air. She quickly captures it and purifies it, waving goodbye before throwing the box cutter into the air and restoring the ballroom to normal, while Madame Artois lies on the ground, completely confused.

Ladybug stands back as Adrien walks up to the disheveled woman and offers her a hand. She knows he can take care of this better than her.

"Madame Artois, are you all right?"

"Adrien Agreste? What happened—where am I?"

"You were akumatized by Papillon. But don't worry, everything is fine now. There was no permanent damage to anything whatsoever. Also, I know you were concerned about why your son was rejected from the Fall Collection. But I'll do my best to see that he gets a place on the roster for the Winter or Spring Collections."

"I'm—I'm so sorry I said all those horrible things about you! You are clearly a very kind young man."

Adrien shakes his head. "You were just trying to be a good mother. I respect that."

" _Merci_ , Adrien. I might not agree with your father on a lot of things, but it's clear that he has raised you well. I very much appreciate your help."

Adrien looks down and sighs before looking up and treating her to a brilliant smile, hiding any sign of sadness. "It is my pleasure, Madame."

* * *

Ladybug stands by Adrien and waits until the Gala returns to normal. Though she tries to be casual about the whole thing, she keeps stealing sideways glances at him; she's beyond relieved that he's safe and everything was fine and she still can't actually believe that _he punched an akuma in the face_. It's all a bit surreal.

"We make a good team, you and I," she says. It's the closest she can come to thanking him without admitting that she knows who he is.

Adrien blushes with pleasure. He's heard her say it a thousand times about Chat Noir, but the fact that she's talking specifically about him and not his alter ego somehow makes it much more special.

"Thanks, Ladybug," he says. "You—you were pretty amazing out there too," he adds, shyly.

" _Merci_ , _mon beau_ ," she says. And something about the adoring look in his eyes makes her mind go completely blank and before she knows it, she's gone and leaned in and kissed him on the cheek, and as she pulls back, she can see that Adrien's face has gone as crimson as her suit.

And judging from how her own cheeks feel like they're on fire, she's pretty sure that hers are just as red.

Luckily for Ladybug, her earrings start to beep and she giggles nervously before leaping away into the darkness, leaving a dazed Adrien staring adoringly into the moonlit horizon.


	4. Sweet Little Lies

_**Author's Note**_ : Cheers to all the folks who have been waiting since February for me to update this! Luckily, you will not have such a long wait until the next chapter! My plan is to update this one every two weeks from here on out. Hope this chapter is worth the wait! :)

* * *

It's Wednesday night, and Ladybug is sitting on top of Notre Dame, waiting for a familiar pair of neon green eyes and a Cheshire grin to appear beside her. Tonight's the night for their joint patrol, and he should be here soon.

Tonight, they're going to patrol all the popular tourist spots in Paris—one of which, incidentally, is the same place where she learned the truth about Chat Noir's identity and it turned her world upside down.

The clock strikes 9, and she wonders why he's running late. But at the same time, she's a little grateful. She's been daydreaming about the events from last night all day, but she's still not sure what to say to Chat Noir when he shows up.

Because Ladybug doesn't know if she can be casual around him anymore. She cares too much now. It was easy, when she thought that Chat Noir was a stranger, to stay neutral and composed, to flirt with ease and bat off his attempts to kiss her hand.

But now she knows he's _Adrien_ , and she's seen the way he blushes when he looks at her with those sea foam eyes. And she's seen Chat Noir at his most vulnerable and unguarded, visiting his civilian classmate at her bakery at night, all for the sake of learning a little bit about her, and instead revealing his own need for simple comfort and acceptance, with no judgment or expectation.

And though Ladybug's great at hiding secrets, she's always been one to wear her heart on her sleeve, and sometimes, it makes her act before she thinks. That's why Chat's always been such a perfect partner for her. He tempers her, makes her come down from the extremes she reaches when she goes too far and leaps ahead of herself.

But how can he help her now, when he himself is the reason behind her emotional turmoil? There's so much she wants to say to Chat Noir now that she's aware of who he really is, to respond with actual sincerity when he flirts with her, because now she knows the truth about his feelings. And how they reflect her own.

But she can't. She has to be careful. And yet—oh, how she wishes she could say something to him—give him the slightest hint that she knows, and that she feels the same way he does. She wishes she could tell him that the classmate he's so curious about is his own partner, the one who's already memorized every single one of his micro-expressions by heart.

She wishes she could tell him that she's the one person he's not afraid to scold when she's wrong, the one person who's seen how reckless he can be, and the one person who understands the burden of the secret he carries every day.

It's the same burden that's keeping her from telling him any of this.

She sighs and looks down just as a light breeze brushes past her cheeks, and she hears the thud of familiar boots landing behind her.

"Bonsoir, my lady," says Chat Noir. He sounds more nervous than usual. "How have you been? It's been a few days since we've seen each other."

Ladybug wants to laugh. That's the furthest thing from the truth. They've seen each other every night this week, and last night, she even kissed him on the cheek.

She knows the cadence of his voice well enough by now to be able to tell that he's blushing, even though he's standing behind her and she can't see his face clearly in the darkness. She knows this because Adrien always speaks a little more quickly when his cheeks are flushed, like the words are escaping his lips before he can contain them, even though he still sounds composed.

It makes her smile.

Before she knew it was Adrien behind the mask, she often thought that Chat Noir's flirtatious overtones were casual and lighthearted—with no actual feelings behind them.

But Ladybug knows better now, and she can't believe she ever thought he was anything but sincere. But perhaps it's because she wasn't looking. It's easy to miss obvious signs right under your nose when you're not even searching for them, and she certainly wasn't searching for any signs of Adrien in Chat Noir's cheeky bright green eyes.

She turns back to look at him. "I'm fine…just a little tired. How are you?"

"I'm—I'm a little tired too. It's been an interesting week."

 _That's an understatement_ , thinks Ladybug.

They lapse into silence, neither sure what to say without giving everything away.

Finally, Chat Noir speaks. "Quiet night, isn't it? It's nice."

She nods.

"A lot quieter than it was yesterday," he adds.

"Why do you say that?" asks Ladybug.

Chat Noir pauses for a moment before responding and looks at Ladybug, eyes slightly narrowed, like he's trying to read her face, but he can't quite figure her out.

"The akuma that you fought last night at the Agreste mansion? I heard about it on the news this morning."

"Right," she replies, looking back down. "Le Vengeur."

She knows the logical thing for her to say next is "why weren't you there?" even though she knows he _was_ —because she's not supposed to know that—but Chat Noir beats her to the punch.

"I'm sorry I didn't show up last night. Are you upset about it? You seem really quiet tonight," he says, reaching his hand out tentatively to gently touch her shoulder.

He pulls back quickly as she whips her head to look straight back at him.

"Of course not! _Chaton_ , I would never be angry with you for not being able to show up during a night patrol. We split up duty for a reason—you've said before that you're busy on Tuesday nights, and anyway, I handled it fine! Adrien Agreste—you know, Gabriel Agreste's son—he actually was a huge help. I couldn't have done it without him."

She notices Chat Noir's cat ears perk up as soon as she says his name.

"Was he?" he asks, quietly but eagerly, and Ladybug knows he's fishing for compliments in the sweetest way.

"Yes, he was awesome!" she says, smiling. "Did you know that he actually punched her in the face with his bare hands? It reminded me a little bit of you, actually, the way you're not afraid to run in to face danger, even when we're at the brink of losing the battle. He refused to give up, even though he was pinned against a wall. It was amazing!"

Chat Noir's eyes crinkle up at the edges with happiness as he grins sheepishly and raises his arm up to rub the back of his head. It's a familiar gesture that makes Ladybug laugh and lean forward to tweak his bell, finally breaking the unspoken tension between them.

"It looks like _someone_ is pleased with himself tonight!"

"Well, of course I am! My lady just complimented me. I feel like a cat who just jumped over the moon," says Chat Noir, taking her hand and kissing it with a dramatic sigh.

He holds onto her hand for a little bit longer than he normally would, and Ladybug lets him. He's earned it.

* * *

Though Adrien has been preparing for today's fencing tournament for months, he spends the entire three-hour competition distracted by thoughts of Marinette and Ladybug. Luckily, it doesn't affect Adrien's performance, and the fencing mask hides the lovestruck expression he doesn't even know he's wearing.

He thinks about how kind she was to him when he practically fell onto her balcony, how worried she was about him when she was trying to shield him from Le Vengeur, not knowing that he's faced all the akumas that she has, standing by her side—and he can't stop thinking about the look in her eyes when she kissed him on the cheek.

She called him _mon beau_. She said she likes him because he's sweet, and kind, and he's a good friend. She cares about him—she truly cares about him, and now, Adrien wants to show her that he cares about her too—on both sides of the mask.

He's not sure how he's going to do it without revealing everything, but perhaps there's something he can do when he meets up with her during their joint patrol tonight.

When Adrien finally gets a chance to check his phone after his fencing tournament ends, he realizes that the competition has run an hour over, and he's going to be late for patrol.

Normally, it's not a problem if he's a little late. In between his busy schedule and hers, it's only natural that neither is ever on time. Still, he doesn't want to lose a minute of time with Ladybug tonight.

As soon as the Gorilla pulls up to the mansion, Adrien rushes up to his room and give Plagg two minutes to eat a small piece of Camembert before quickly transforming and leaping out the door.

Chat Noir practically flies through the streets to get to her in time, streaking through alleys and vaulting from building to building, and he arrives at Notre Dame just as the clock strikes 9, and he sees Ladybug, sitting at the edge, legs swinging.

He's about to go up to her when he notices something about the way she's sitting, her torso curled inward a little bit more tightly than usual, shoulders hunched and arms wound around herself.

Standing behind her, he can't see her face, but he's sure that her expression is tense.

She's worried about something, but Chat Noir's instincts are telling him that it's not something she would be comfortable sharing with anyone else. The stiff tension in her posture is a private one, something that she'll hide as soon as she realizes that he's standing there.

He wonders if she's thinking about last night as well, and what she's going to say to him when they talk about it.

The moment passes, and her shoulders finally relax. Chat Noir jumps forward to make a thud on the stones, to let her know that he's there.

She smiles as he approaches, but her sky blue eyes are clouded and distant, and at first, their conversation is halting and awkward. It's almost as if they've used up all the words they have to say to one another over the past few nights, even though there's no way Ladybug could know that this is the third night in a row that they've seen each other.

Chat Noir's excitement to see Ladybug evaporates as the tension in the air between them slowly swells like a balloon. She doesn't seem interested in mentioning the events of last night at all, and it suddenly occurs to him that she might be wondering why he didn't show up to fight.

In the middle of all the excitement and fighting with her like he always did, it hadn't even occurred to him that she might have been worried about where Chat Noir was. Perhaps that's why she's acting so distant tonight—because he didn't show up when he was supposed to, even though he was by her side all night (oh, how he wishes he could tell her).

So he decides to ask, and in doing so, immediately learns two new things about Ladybug, as her eyes first light up with shock, and then soften, as she recalls the events from last night.

The first thing Chat Noir learns about his friend: she really, truly means it when she says that they're a team, and that she's always got his back, no matter what.

As Gabriel Agreste's son, Adrien is used to hearing empty statements and promises from people in his father's social circles, especially from people who butter up Gabriel in order to get Adrien to work with them, insisting that they won't be disappointed if he doesn't manage to live up to every single one of their expectations.

And every single time, they inevitably end up making at least one little complaint about the littlest things that lands him in hot water with his father.

But Ladybug—Marinette—is the first person that has ever supported him without any ulterior motive, over and over again.

Even though she's told countless villains off who try to write him off as some sort of sidekick, it's this, the simple fact that she refuses to even entertain the thought of getting annoyed at Chat Noir for not showing up—simply because he told her he's usually busy on Tuesday nights—well, it makes him feel both proud and grateful that she's standing by his side.

The second thing he learns about her: he's completely underestimated how deep her feelings run for him. He wonders if Ladybug knows how her eyes are sparkling when she starts describing the events from last night, like the dam she was holding her emotions behind has broken, and they're all flooding out in a rush.

The only other times he's ever seen her this excited is when she talks to Alya about fashion, but even those conversations lack the undercurrent of passion currently emanating from every single one of her words.

It fills Chat Noir with a warmth that feels like the sun, and even though he can't tell her why he's so pleased to hear such high praise for Adrien Agreste from her lips, it doesn't matter. It's enough just to know that she cares.

* * *

They jump down from Notre Dame and walk across the cobblestones in the courtyard, the bright white light from the cathedral shining on their backs.

It's a quiet night, with only a few people and local hawkers milling around. One of them, an elderly man who sells madeleines for tourists to feed the flocks of sparrows that flit about the entrance, waves at the two young heroes. It's been a few months since he was akumatized, but he never fails to wave and smile gratefully at Ladybug and Chat Noir whenever they come by on patrol.

" _Salut_ , Monsieur Duval!" calls Ladybug. "Hope all is well!"

" _Merci_ , Ladybug," responds the old man. "Good to see you again!"

Ladybug nods and smiles and then bumps right into Chat Noir's back. He's stopped walking and is looking down at something. Ladybug shifts to stand beside him and looks down as well, and sees that they've stopped at Point Zero.

She gazes down at the small brass plate, with the eight-point star emblazoned in the middle, the official center of Paris. It's a place where many tourists come when they visit, to make a wish for the future.

It's not something she's ever done, though.

She looks back up and sees that Chat's eyes are closed and his hands are clasped together, his lips moving silently.

He's making a wish. She wonders what it is, and waits patiently for him to finish.

She laughs when he opens his eyes again and blushes at her curious stare.

"What were you wishing for, _mon minou_?"

"It's a secret," he responds, smiling. "What did you wish for?"

Ladybug grins. "I don't need to make a wish. I've got luck!"

Chat Noir nods. "I know you do. But making a wish can only help, don't you think?"

"I mean, I have nine lives, but I still made a wish," he adds in a serious tone, as Ladybug giggles.

"Okay, _chaton_ , you've made your point. I'll make a wish."

She closes her eyes, holds her breath, and clasps her hands.

She wishes for a clear path, for a way to make all of this easier. To find a way to share the truth about what she knows with her partner, without putting either of them—or Paris—in danger.

It's a crazy wish, but it's the first one she's ever made here—so maybe that gives it some power. That's what she's hoping for, at least.

As they walk across the courtyard and onto the Pont Notre-Dame to cross the Seine, Ladybug is quiet. Chat Noir frowns for a moment before he leans against the edge of the bridge with a grin.

"Hey, let's play a game." It's something they often do during quiet night patrols, when there aren't too many people around and they have time to kill.

"Okay, what are you thinking?" says Ladybug.

Chat Noir's answer is quick and decisive. "Two Truths and a Lie."

"We haven't played that one in a while," responds Ladybug, not quite reluctantly, but still slowly.

Two Truths and a Lie is an easy game to play when the stakes are low, but the last time they played was months ago, when things were a lot less complicated and she didn't know that her partner and crush were the same person.

"I know," says Chat Noir. "That's why I suggested it. But we can play something else if you don't want to play this one."

He looks at Ladybug with a keen, unreadable expression as the strange tension from before fills the air once more, and she wonders how to respond.

She looks away from him and back across the bridge at Point Zero, where another couple is now standing and making a wish, fingers laced together and smiling.

She turns back to him and shakes her head. "No, it's fine. Let's do it."

He perks up. "Can I go first?"

She smiles. "Of course."

* * *

Chat Noir loves playing this game with Ladybug, since it's the only time she's ever willing to share any details about her civilian life—even though she's always been stingy with the details.

But it's been a long time since the last time they played, and now that he knows her true identity, he knows where to fill in the blanks, and he's looking forward to it. Still, he's volunteered to go first, so he runs through a bank of random facts about himself, trying to find something new, along with a lie.

Ladybug waits patiently for him to think of something, wearing what he feels is an unusually wary smile—but maybe he's imagining things. Finally, he's ready.

"Okay. I'm allergic to coconuts, my friends all hated me the first time they met me, and I've never heard any of XY's songs all the way through."

Ladybug's eyes widen and he grins, sure that he's got her stumped.

"What do you mean, your _'friends all hated you the first time they met you'_? That's not true!" she cries indignantly.

Chat Noir's jaw drops, but he quickly collects himself.

"Are you sure that's the lie?" he asks, trying to shrug it off with a careless laugh, but he can tell from the fierce look in Ladybug's eyes that she's not buying it.

"No. You're lying about the coconuts. You're allergic to feathers, not coconuts."

"That's right."

"Chat Noir, your friends didn't hate you the first time they met you," says Ladybug insistently. "They just didn't understand you."

Chat Noir shakes his head. "How do you know that?"

Ladybug gazes at him, calm, and resolute. "Trust me. I know."

There's no way she could know. There's no way. Is there?

She leans forward. "My turn. I hate pastries, I freak out whenever I see butterflies in the park, and I already know what I want to name my first child."

"You love pastries. That's the lie."

"Are you sure?"

The daughter of two bakers, hating pastries? Impossible. And he freaks out when he sees butterflies in the park too. And he wouldn't put it past Marinette to already have names chosen for her children. She's always been a planner.

"Yes," he says confidently.

"That's right. You're really good at this!" replies Ladybug, laughing.

"So are you," says Chat Noir, smiling softly. "I guess that's why we're partners, huh?"

Ladybug nods and they lapse once again into a comfortable silence, before Chat Noir turns to her with a smirk.

"So, what's the name that you picked out?"

"Um…Emma," she says, looking away as she suddenly flushes pink.

Chat Noir finds himself blushing as well, and he crosses his arms and leans over the railing of the bridge, looking down at the quietly rushing current of the Seine.


	5. That's What Friends Are For

Nino is practically jumping with excitement while Alya and Marinette are watching him with fond smiles when Adrien walks into the classroom on Thursday morning.

"Hey Nino, what's up? You look like you're in a good mood this morning!" says Adrien cheerfully.

"They're doing a marathon of one of my favorite directors at an art theater in the 6th arrondisement and I snagged four tickets to the main show tonight! Alya and Marinette already said they're game, so the last ticket is for you, my man. You can come, right?"

"I should be! What time do I need to be there?"

"The movie starts at 9:30pm, so we're meeting up at Café de Flore a little earlier for coffee, probably around 9."

Adrien's face falls. "Oh man, I just remembered—I have a late tutoring session for Chinese tonight and I can't miss it. I'm sorry, Nino."

The lie falls so casually from Adrien's tongue that Marinette almost misses it. But she still has his schedule memorized, so she knows it's not true. He has Chinese lessons after school on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and they're right after his fencing lessons. She wonders why he's lying.

Nino sighs and pats his friend's shoulder. "Dude, you work too hard. But I know how hardline your dad is about that stuff. I wish you could take the night off though! You could use a break."

"Yeah, I know. Hopefully next time!" says Adrien, upbeat, though Marinette can detect the undertones of sadness in his voice.

Why can't he come?

And then she remembers. It's his night to go on solo patrol, which starts at the exact same time that Nino wants to meet up. Adrien can't be in two places at once, and the 6th arrondisement, where they're meeting up, has been the site of four akuma attacks over the past month, so she and Chat Noir have been keeping an extra close eye on the area.

They talked about it last night, and Chat Noir promised to take a close look around the area tonight during his patrol to see if there's anything specific that's making the people who live around the area more emotionally vulnerable to Hawk Moth's attacks.

So that's why he's not coming.

But still…Adrien could use a night off. He works so hard, and he needs it more than anyone else she knows. Marinette wishes there was some way she could tell him that it's okay, that one night off from patrol isn't a problem—that he deserves a chance to just relax and spend time with his friends.

But then he would know.

That evening, Marinette is distracted the whole time on the way to the Café de Flore, answering questions with murmurs and constantly looking up at the sky. Nino, who is occupied by thoughts of the movie, doesn't notice, but Alya is paying attention and takes note of it immediately.

"Hey girl, what's on your mind? You seem really distracted."

Marinette sighs. She can't tell her friend that she's looking for a pair of cat ears and neon green eyes leaping across nearby rooftops without raising a lot of questions, but luckily, Alya thinks she's worried about something else.

She walks over and places a comforting hand on Marinette's shoulder.

"Aww, Marinette, don't be sad. I know it's a bummer that Adrien can't come with us tonight, but you know better than all of us how busy he is."

Nino snaps to attention and nods. "Yeah Mari, I'm sorry! I tried convincing him again after school, but he said no."

Marinette shakes her head and tries to convince them she's okay. She's not sad for herself; she's concerned about Adrien. He's overextending himself, and he could really have used the night off tonight. His Fridays are always extremely busy.

"We can do this again next week!" says Nino. "This series is going to be going on for an entire month."

Alya laughs. "You just want to do this over and over again because you want to see all the movies, don't you?"

"Well maybe, a little," replies Nino with a grin. "But I do want to help the two of you get together! I know he likes you. I don't know why he won't make a move."

Marinette's too distracted to blush like she normally would at a comment like that, as she looks up and spots what she's been looking for: a quickly moving black blur scampering across the nearby rooftops.

Alya follows her gaze and spots him too.

"Hey, isn't that Chat Noir?"

"Yes, it is," says Marinette.

"What's he doing here?" asks Nino, curious.

"He's on a night patrol," respond Marinette and Alya at the same time before looking at each other and bursting into laughter.

"Since when have you kept track of what superheroes are up to?" says Alya, laughing.

"Ever since you asked me to read all the archives of your blog," replies Marinette, sticking out her tongue.

Alya laughs. "Fair enough." She turns to Nino. "I bet he's checking things out here because of all the akuma attacks recently. There have been a lot here."

"He needs a break," says Marinette quietly.

Because behind those neon green eyes and messy blond hair is a friend who could use the night off. And a boy she loves far more than he knows.

She's not going to let him wear himself to the ground, no matter how helpful he wants to be.

So she calls out his name.

* * *

Chat Noir has movies on his mind as he patrols through the 6th arrondisement.

He also has Marinette on his mind.

After playing Two Truths and a Lie last night, he's learned that her favorite genre of film is animated movies, and she doesn't like horror movies at all. He's also learned that she has a thing, oddly enough, for buddy cop movies. He wonders if she developed an interest in that genre after becoming Ladybug, or whether she always liked them. He makes a mental note to ask her the next time he sees her.

To his surprise, she didn't seem surprised at all to learn that his favorite genre of film is romantic comedies, and that his favorite romantic trope is friends to lovers. But then again, he figures that's because he's always been so flirty with her. She's the smartest girl he knows, and it's pretty obvious that it's not hard for her to see the appeal that particular genre has for him.

So now, more than anything else, Adrien really wants a chance to go to the cinema with Marinette. That's the most frustrating part about having to turn down Nino's invitation—he could have had a chance tonight.

Though the director who Nino is a huge fan of is more of an action thriller kind of guy, Adrien looked up the film that is playing tonight and saw that there's enough romance and buddy cop action going on in the plot for both him and Marinette to be satisfied.

So deep down inside (well, not really all that deep down, he's filled with the feeling)—he really, really wants to go.

But his lady had been so concerned about the string of akuma attacks in the area that he didn't want to let her down. And he definitely doesn't want to let Paris down. So he's out here on patrol while his friends are all meeting up at the café.

Still, Chat Noir would be lying to himself if he didn't admit to searching for a familiar set of black pigtails in the throngs of people in the streets below.

And then he spots them: Alya, Marinette, and Nino, looking right up at him, and he realizes that he's standing on the rooftop right across the street from the café.

Marinette is standing in between them, staring at him with those beautiful bluebell eyes that seem to know everything. In her scarlet red dress and black peacoat, she looks like a rose blooming in the darkness, and he can't take his eyes off her.

They stare at each other for a few moments before he realizes that she's calling out his name.

"Hey, Chat Noir! Down here!"

Almost instinctively, he leaps down from the terrace where he's standing, ready to hear whatever his lady has to say.

Up close, he can see that her eyes are filled with kindness and understanding, and she's wearing an expression Chat Noir only ever seen on her when she has the mask on—in his presence, she's forgetting to put on the act of being a regular civilian.

" _Salut_ , Marinette! How are you and your friends this evening?" He bows elegantly to Alya and Nino, who respond with laughter (Alya) and amazement (Nino).

Marinette smiles. "Why don't you take a break from patrol tonight? It's been a busy week for you."

"Oh, _ma princesse_ , you know I can't do that. I've got too many streets to patrol! But it's okay. The superhero life is a busy one, you know," he responds, flexing his arms and trying to do his best to look heroic.

"Chat Noir, stop," says Marinette, gently, placing her hand on his shoulder. "You don't have to act in front of me. And you deserve to take a break. It's okay to have fun once in a while."

Chat Noir tenses up. "Are…are you sure?"

"I'm positive," she says firmly, and Chat Noir knows when she uses that tone of voice, there's no arguing with her.

"Okay," he says, grinning widely. "But can I finish patrolling the street first before I take a break? I'm almost done, I promise."

He doesn't mean it, of course. As soon as they go into the café, he's going to go back on patrol and finish the job. He knows she probably wants him to relax a little bit, but he can't shirk his duty to her or the city. It's Chat Noir's job to be responsible, both for his lady and for the citizens, no matter what.

Marinette surveys his face and he can tell that she's trying to figure out whether he's really going to come back again after a few minutes or if he's just trying to make an excuse so he can get away, so he tries to look as earnest as possible. It's a bit difficult, given that he's become accustomed to wearing a permanently mischievous expression while he's wearing the mask, but he tries.

It appears to work, as she nods and makes a sound of satisfaction.

"Fine. But you better come back and join us for coffee when you're done patrolling the street!"

Chat Noir blinks, taken aback. He wasn't expecting the conversation to go in this direction, or to be invited to join them. But…if she's serious, maybe it's fine. Maybe—just this once—he can relax.

"Are…are you sure?" he asks again, suddenly feeling teary.

Marinette nods.

"Okay!" says Chat Noir, grinning.

"It shouldn't take you more than five minutes to check everything out, so I better see you back here by then. I'm watching the clock!"

"Your wish is my command, _ma princesse_!" replies Chat Noir with a wink and a bow before he leaps away to scan the surrounding streets.

He resists the urge to look back at her as he soars back up onto the rooftops.

* * *

"I didn't know you were on speaking terms with Chat Noir," says Alya, surprised.

"Oh, uh, he saved me a couple times!" replies Marinette. "We've run into each other a couple of times during akuma attacks."

"Well he certainly seems to like you," muses Alya.

"Maybe you should date him if things don't work out with Adrien," adds Nino, teasing.

"Come on guys, it's nothing like that!" protests Marinette. Now is one of those times she really, really, wishes she could tell them the truth.

"It's just…didn't he seem a bit sad to you?" she says. "I feel like he could use a break. He and Ladybug work really hard to keep Paris safe."

Nino nods. "He's about our age, isn't he? I can't imagine juggling school with saving Paris. I can barely even handle my own schedule right now."

Alya grins. "Well, anyway, it was nice of you to invite him to get coffee with us. Good excuse to get in an interview for the Ladyblog."

Nino is leaping with excitement. "Do you think he likes the same kinds of movies I do?"

"I'm sure he does!" says Marinette. "I think you'll find that the two of you have a lot in common."

Alya raises an eyebrow. "You seem to know him really well, Mari. Is there something you're not telling us?"

Marinette rolls her eyes, though the pink flush of her cheeks betray her true emotions. "Don't be silly, Alya. You know I have a crush on Adrien!"

"Mmmhmm. Okay," says Alya, clearly skeptical.

"Should we go inside and get a booth, or should we wait for him to get back?" asks Nino.

"You two go on ahead," says Marinette. "I'll wait for him to get back and bring him inside."

"Sure," replies Nino, turning to Alya. "Let's go in. Man, I'm so excited! We're gonna have coffee with a superhero! That's so cool! I think I'm beginning to understand why you get so excited each time you interview Ladybug."

Alya laughs and shakes her head as they go inside. "Finally, someone gets it."

Five minutes on the dot, Chat Noir returns to the entrance, as promised. He's panting, totally out of breath, and something tells Marinette that he tried to do a patrol of the entire arrondisement in five minutes. So much for patrolling "one street."

The silly _chaton_. He always tries to please everyone. But that's why Marinette loves him.

She smiles. "Ready to go in? Alya and Nino are really excited to meet you."

Chat Noir's eyes light up. "Yeah! I've never been here before."

"Well then, let's go in!" Marinette says, laughing. She takes the arm that Chat Noir offers gallantly and they walk in, blithely ignoring the other customers who are gaping at them in awe.

"Why are they staring at you guys?" says Nino as Marinette and Chat Noir approach the booth.

"I don't think they're used to seeing superheroes just hanging out in cafes, Nino," says Alya.

"Doesn't matter. It's rude," says Nino, waggling his finger disapprovingly.

"That's okay! I'm used to it," says Chat Noir, laughing. He sits down next to Nino, across from Marinette, who slides in beside Alya. "I'm Chat Noir," he says, reaching out a hand.

"But uh, I guess you already know that," he adds with a bashful grin.

Nino's eyes widen as he grabs Chat Noir's hand with both of his. "Nino! It's great to meet you, man! You're super cool. You and Ladybug are totally awesome."

Marinette smiles fondly at the scene. Nino has no idea that he's introducing himself to his own best friend, and she wonders what Chat Noir is thinking. It's always an interesting experience to interact with Alya when she's Ladybug, and she imagines it must be the same for Adrien as Chat Noir.

"Thanks, Nino!" says Chat Noir. "So, Marinette told me that you're going to see an action movie tonight…mind if I come along? I haven't been to the cinema in a while."

Nino barely contains a squeal. "Dude. YES. Absolutely. I will even pay for your ticket! Oh man, Adrien is gonna be so bummed he missed out on this tomorrow. He could have met you!"

"Well, he won't even believe you if we don't take a picture!" says Alya.

Nino turns to his girlfriend and narrows his eyes. "You just want a group photo for the Ladyblog, don't you?"

Marinette laughs as Alya grins, completely unrepentant. "You know it." She pulls out a selfie stick from her purse and sets her phone on it.

"Come on guys, smile for the camera!"

* * *

The four friends laugh and chat until their coffee arrives, and they each eagerly grab their mugs as soon as they arrive, and the table is quickly filled with a variety of delicious aromas.

Marinette smiles as the steam from the coffee fogs up Chat Noir's mask. She leans over and hands him a napkin.

"So, Chat Noir, what's your mask made of, anyway?" says Nino, observing the exchange. "Are your eyes actually that color? Or does it do something to change it?"

"I'm not sure, but Marinette probably knows!" pipes up Chat Noir.

"How would you know that?" says Alya, raising an eyebrow.

Chat Noir smiles nervously as he breaks into a cold sweat. "Oh, uh, I saw in the newspaper that she won a design contest once. She seems really talented!"

Marinette laughs and reaches out to poke the edges to assess the material.

"So…it looks like plastic, but it feels as hard as steel. Honestly? I think it's just magic."

"Really? Is that possible?" says Nino.

Chat Noir shrugs. "She would know better than me. I just wear it! I've never really thought about what it's made of."

Nino nods and they move onto a range of other topics, chatting until it's time to head to the theater for the film. When they go up to pay, the waiter tells them that their coffee is on the house, as the owner is happy to be host one of Paris's beloved superheroes. Though Chat Noir almost insists on paying anyway, the excited look on his friends' faces convinces him to accept the kind gesture instead.

After they leave the café, Marinette tugs Chat Noir's sleeve and holds him back as Alya and Nino walk ahead.

"What's up?" he asks, surprised.

Marinette looks at him with a keen, unreadable expression, one that he's seen on her face several times over the past few days, and one he still doesn't know how to read.

But he doesn't have time to think about it for more than a few seconds, because she suddenly reaches out and wordlessly wraps her arms around him in a tight hug, burying her face in his chest.

He gasps with surprise before he folds his arms around her as well, closing his eyes and resting his cheek on top of her head, losing himself in clouds of comfort. Her hair is soft and silky against his skin, and it smells like cherry blossoms and roses, and they stand there, swaying slowly, as the crowds pass by.

When they finally pull back, it feels like years have passed, even though it can't have been more than a few minutes, at most. They exchange no words, but they don't need to. The hug says it all. No matter what they are—no matter what this equation means, juggling two identities at once, it doesn't matter. Marinette is always going to be there for him, and she's always going to have his heart.

And when they sit next to each other at the theater, it takes all of Chat Noir's effort to not to spend the entire time staring at her instead of watching the movie.

* * *

The next day at school, it's all Adrien can do not to turn around to smile at Marinette and wrap her in another big hug as Nino buzzes around him with excitement.

"Adrien! You should have been there last night! The three of us had coffee with Chat Noir, and then we all went to see a movie together! It was legit one of the coolest things that has ever happened to me."

"Yeah, I saw Alya's new post on the Ladyblog! Super cool."

"Next time, for sure man. I think you two would get along great."

Adrien grins. "Well, he's a cool cat and I'm a model, so I think you're probably right."

At this, Marinette bursts into laughter, and Nino and Adrien turn around to look at her—Nino with surprise, Adrien with merriment.

And as he winks at her and she smiles back, Adrien is filled with a feeling of warmth that feels like the summer sun.


	6. A Light That Never Goes Out

Fridays are always busy for Adrien, but even by his standards, today is exceptionally grueling. After school, he has a two hour photoshoot, followed by a private Chinese tutoring session, followed by a brief twenty minute break for dinner with Nathalie, which he spends eating a salad while she runs down the fifteen unique items on his itinerary for Saturday morning, followed by another two hours spent working on physics homework.

Even though it's his favorite subject, Adrien's exhausted, and he barely makes it through the questions. By the time he finally gets a chance to go upstairs, even Plagg is already asleep, quietly snoring from inside Adrien's shirt.

Adrien's half asleep himself, and he doesn't even turn on the lights in his room when he gets there. He's about to collapse onto his bed when he sees a shadow at his window. It's Ladybug.

She waves. "Hi, Adrien."

Adrenaline floods his body and he forgets all of the stresses of the day as he rushes to turn the lights on.

"Ladybug? What are you doing here? Is everything okay?"

Adrien smiles as Ladybug drops the calm façade and starts waving her arms around in a panic, in a way that's much more reminiscent of Marinette Dupain-Cheng than of the masked heroine of Paris.

"Everything's fine, I promise! I just wanted to see you because I, uh, figured you'd be tired."

Adrien doesn't bother asking her how she knows that. Because he already knows the answer.

"I am. Thanks for noticing." He gestures at the sofa. "Wanna come sit down? That is, of course, unless you're in a hurry—I, uh, know you probably don't want to miss the rest of your patrol."

Ladybug flushes. "No, I'm not in a hurry at all! I—I can stay for a little while, if you'd like."

She perches on edge of the sofa, breathing shallow, as Adrien sits down next to her. They sit in silence for a few minutes, quietly observing each other.

Adrien can tell that she's all nerves tonight, and he wonders why. Her brows are pinched together, and she's biting her lips with worry, though she's speaking evenly. She's as fretful as a bird, and he wants to reach out an arm to steady her.

But for some reason, Adrien's instincts are telling him that if he does that, he's probably going to make things worse.

So he decides to change the subject.

"Um, so…thanks for being there at the Gala on Tuesday. You were amazing, saving the day like that!"

Ladybug blinks at him in confusion before she realizes what he's talking about.

"Oh! Yes, no problem! It's all just part of superhero duty, you know? And—you were absolutely amazing too! I couldn't have done it without your help."

Adrien smiles. It might be silly, but he doesn't think he's ever going to get over getting compliments directly from Ladybug.

"Thank you, Ladybug! I'm happy to help. It's all part of a day's work as a responsible civilian. But I'm glad you stopped by to check up on me."

"Yeah, it's been a few days since we've seen each other, hasn't it?"

Adrien is immediately struck by the higher pitch of Ladybug's voice. It's the same unnatural cadence her voice takes when she tries lying to teachers about where she's been during akuma battles, but it's more strained and uncomfortable.

She's lying about something big. Bigger than pretending that she doesn't see Adrien in class every day.

And as Adrien looks more closely at her face, he's abruptly struck by a crazy suspicion. Is it possible that she knows who he is?

Does she know that he's Chat Noir?

It's an insane assumption to make, especially when she's been so keen on keeping their civilian identities a secret. If she'd found out, wouldn't she tell him?

But what if she found out by accident, just like he did?

But if she did, why wouldn't she have told him the truth? She's had multiple chances this week. They've seen each other every day.

But then again, he hasn't told her he knows the truth either.

And then Adrien realizes that it doesn't matter—because suddenly and all at once, he's realized something, a revelation as clear and strong as a bolt of lightning.

He's not just in love with Ladybug. He's in love with Marinette Dupain-Cheng, too.

He started these night patrols to learn more about the girl behind the mask, and to learn more about why she has a crush on him but won't confess her feelings to him.

But over the past week, he's spent a lot of time with her on both sides of the mask, and slowly but surely, he's fallen for everything about her.

The way she's constantly concerned about the way he feels, and the light in her eyes when she talks to him. The way she laughs, the way she was determined to make sure he joined them for the movie—the way she hugged him last night and made him feel like everything in the world was going to be okay.

He wants to make her feel like everything can be okay too.

So he decides to ask her a loaded question. He's not sure how she's going to react, but it's the best way he can think of creating an opening to talk about it.

"Ladybug, do any of your friends know your real identity?"

Suddenly, Ladybug's on guard again, burying her nervousness behind a calm façade. She's breathing steady, looking him straight in the eye, as she responds.

"Nobody. Not even my parents."

Adrien cocks his head sideways, his lips curving into a half smile.

"Isn't it hard for you to keep it a secret all the time? You should have a confidante."

"Are you offering?" responds Ladybug, raising an eyebrow.

Adrien shrugs with a smirk, channeling his inner Chat Noir.

"Maybe. I mean, you are here. In my room."

"That's just to check up on you, _mon beau._ Don't get any ideas."

* * *

Sitting in her room in the dark on Friday night, Marinette thinks about everything that's happened over the past week, and she comes to two conclusions:

She's in love with Adrien Agreste. She's in love with the beautiful boy with sweet and melancholy green eyes who looks at her like she's his entire universe, the boy who's willing to throw himself in harm's way just to keep her safe, even out of uniform.

But she also loves Chat Noir, the boy who tried to patrol an entire arrondisement in five minutes so he wouldn't let his city down just for the sake of having fun. She's in love with her partner and best friend.

How lucky is she that they're the same person?

She started these night patrols as a way to learn more about him, but she's ended up learning much more about herself.

She's in love with this wonderful, sweet, boy, and she has to tell him right now.

Tikki senses the change in her charge's energy and turns to look at her.

"Is everything okay, Marinette?"

"I've got to go see him right now, Tikki."

"Adrien, right? Are you going to tell him that you know that he's Chat Noir?"

Marinette sighs. "I don't know yet. But I do know that I'm going to tell him how I feel about him."

"Are you sure?" Tikki asks with concern.

Marinette nods. "I've never been more sure about anything in my life. I don't care what happens, but I've got to tell him. I can't hold this back anymore."

"I'm proud of you for being so brave, Marinette."

"Thanks, Tikki," says Marinette. " _Transforme moi_!"

Tikki smiles before she flies into the earrings. "Good luck, Marinette!"

Fifteen minutes later, Ladybug is inside Adrien's room, sitting next to him on the couch, and staring awkwardly at everything but him. She still hasn't confessed anything—not about her identity, and certainly not about her feelings.

It turns out that deciding to confess and actually doing it are two entirely different things, and Ladybug is about to give it up and head home.

And then, out of left field, Adrien asks her if any of her friends know her real identity, and her mind starts spiraling with crazy suspicions and ideas.

Why is he asking this all of a sudden? Does he already know that she's Ladybug? It's not possible that he could be so perceptive, is it?

But then again, it's entirely possible. He's always formed the emotional core of their partnership. He's always the first to sympathize with akuma victims, the first to spot what their emotional weaknesses are, the one who tells her when she's taking things to far and when to pull back.

No wonder he's offering to be her confidante.

It's something that only he would do, even at personal cost to himself.

And he certainly would be the right person.

Because after all, he is the only other person in Paris who understands what it's like to have two separate lives, two separate identities.

But then she'd be taking advantage of knowing his identity and not telling him. But then again, if he knows who she is and doesn't tell her who he is, isn't that the same thing?

Maybe she's overthinking this.

And then she sees his lips curved up into a half smile. And it strikes her that he's asking her a genuine question…but _he's also flirting_.

And she remembers the secret that isn't really a secret. She's never had a chance to discover how Adrien really feels about Marinette Dupain-Cheng, but it's an open secret that Adrien Agreste is in love with Ladybug.

He's always flirted with her shamelessly as Chat Noir, with overtures that she always thought were lighthearted jokes until she realized who was behind the mask.

Because as Adrien, he's always been shy in her presence. And the sweet flush in his cheeks whenever he meets her as Ladybug is a dead giveaway as to his sentiments towards her, because even though Adrien's very good at masking his true emotions around other people, he's never been able to hide his feelings in her presence.

But tonight's different. This is the first time she's seen shades of Chat in the way he interacts with her in his civilian self.

It makes her more suspicious than ever before. Something's changed in the way he's looking at her. Like he knows something.

Ladybug's initial instinct is to shut his suspicions down, so she tries to respond in the most authoritative way she can think of: "That's to check up on you, _mon beau._ Don't get any ideas."

"Okay, that's fine. I won't push you to talk about anything you're not comfortable sharing. Let's talk about something else. How have you been the past few days? Is anything stressing you out? How are your friends?"

Ladybug looks right into his eyes as he asks her these questions, and her heart stops for a moment.

Because even though Adrien asks her the questions in the most nonchalant and informal way possible, like he's casually changing the conversation, his eyes are a dead giveaway, and it's in that moment that she realizes that he knows.

 _He knows_.

He knows that she's Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

But he's not going to say anything about it. Because that's just how he is.

He's going to protect her privacy, and wait for her to tell him the truth about her identity herself—and if she never does, he won't question it. Because that's the kind of person he is.

How did the universe make it possible for her to meet someone like this?

And why hasn't she confessed to him yet?

She's been sitting next to him for almost half an hour now, watching him be the most selfless and kind partner and friend a girl could ask for, and she still hasn't managed to spit the words out.

She looks at him and scoots a bit closer to him as she takes a deep breath. She looks him right in the eyes.

 _Be brave._

"I've got a lot on my mind, but I'm fine now."

* * *

Adrien tries not to stop breathing as Ladybug scoots closer to him on the couch. He might be channeling the flirtatious overtures he puts on behind the mask, but he's still as nervous as he's ever been.

Why is he still so nervous, when he knows that he's sitting next to his best friend and one of the sweetest girls in class?

He can't think about that right now. He's got to keep going. He's jumped headfirst into this conversation, so he can't stop now.

Adrien gulps. He can do this.

"I'm glad to hear that. But if you need someone to talk to…my window's always open. I'm always there to lend an ear if you need one."

Ladybug blinks slowly and her eyes fly up above Adrien's head, like she's expecting to see something like cat ears.

And then she flushes pink, like she realizes what she's doing, though she regains her composure fairly quickly and brings her gaze back down to meet Adrien's eyes, smiling sweetly.

Normally a smile like that would be enough to distract him, but it's too late.

It doesn't matter what she does, because it is in that moment that Adrien realizes that his suspicions were true. Ladybug knows.

She knows that he's Chat Noir.

And she's not going to say anything about it, because she made a promise to keep their identities secret.

So he's not going to say anything either.

"Thanks, Adrien. That means a lot to me. I—I might just take you up on that offer."

Adrien nods and gazes at her silently.

So Ladybug knows who he is. But does she know how he feels?

She scoots even closer to him. She smiles knowingly.

Maybe she does know.

Maybe—maybe that's why she's here in the first place.

There's only about an inch of space left between them. The air is electric.

* * *

"I really like you. You know that, right?" Adrien whispers, his voice strained with desire as his cheeks flush.

Ladybug feels her lips curve into a gentle smirk. "I like you too, Adrien Agreste. I like you a lot."

"Can I kiss you?" he says, so quietly that she almost misses the words.

She closes the gap between them and lets her lips answer the question.


	7. The Way You Make Me Feel

Adrien's lucky that both his father and Nathalie have left for an early press conference to launch the accessories line for the Agreste Women's Fall Collection on Saturday morning, because he sleeps through three alarms and doesn't get up until half past ten.

When he finally wakes up, he's still in daze, lost in a daydream about everything that happened last night.

He's still not sure if he believes that any of it actually happened.

He's known two facts now for the past three weeks:

a) that Marinette Dupain-Cheng has a crush on him, Adrien Agreste, and

b) that Marinette Dupain-Cheng is the civilian identity of Ladybug

They've met and talked and laughed and battled akumas and had long conversations over the past five days, and yet it isn't until her body is pressed flush against his and their lips are about to touch that Adrien actually realizes that both of those facts together means that _Ladybug_ loves him as much as he loves her.

He told her to her face that he really likes her. And she said she really likes him too.

He asked her if he could kiss her. She answered by pressing her lips against his.

Her lips were softer than he ever dreamed they would be, warm and plush and curious and hungry as they pressed against his own, over and over again so quickly that he could barely breathe. She stayed till nearly 3 am, and after she left, with her cheeks flushed and his heart in her hands, Adrien wasn't able to fall asleep for almost an hour.

In truth, he's still not sure if he really slept at all; his nerve endings are still frayed from being overwhelmed by endless waves of sheer joy and utter disbelief at what happened, and even though his chapped lips and several marks all over his neck are proof that it was all real, he still can't believe it.

Adrien spends most of the day in a daze, so lost is he in pleasant memories of last night. If anyone asks him tomorrow what he did today, he won't be able to tell them, because he won't remember. He's too busy trying to remember last night.

Before he knows it, it's already evening, and it's time to meet Ladybug for their joint weekend patrol.

And, quite frankly, Adrien is thrilled about it.

Saturday nights are when Chat Noir and Ladybug meet up at the top of the Tour Montparnasse and survey the state of their beloved city while catching up on what they've been up to over the past few days.

Of course, this time around, both of them know exactly what they've been up to, and Adrien can't wait to see Ladybug again tonight. His heart is practically leaping out of his chest as he prepares to transform, and Plagg tries to tell him to calm down a little before realizing that his words are falling upon deaf ears.

Plagg sighs and tells his chosen that he is the most smitten kitten he's seen in several decades before flying into the ring, and Chat Noir flies out his window, breathless and impatient to see his lady.

* * *

Chat Noir's heart soars as he sees Ladybug waiting on top of the building, and then he sees her staring at something across the street. It's a gigantic billboard featuring him advertising the Agreste Teen Fall Collection, looking dreamy and pleased.

He remembers the day of that photoshoot well. It had been about a month ago, just a few weeks before he learned who Ladybug was. He had been daydreaming about her on set, and for once, the photographer was pleased with the expression he had been wearing naturally.

He sees that expression mirrored on Ladybug's face right now. She's smiling fondly at the billboard, touching her lips unconsciously and smiling like she's never been happier in her life.

Chat Noir's heart swells about five sizes bigger as he watches her, and then something perverse stirs inside of him as he realizes something.

Ladybug knows that he, Chat Noir, is Adrien Agreste.

So she knows quite well that that she was kissing him last night.

But she's never going to admit it to his face.

And he'll be damned if he's not going to have his share of fun teasing her about it.

" _Salut_ , Buginette!" he says with a grin as she startles. "I see you've got a great view."

"Ahh, yes," she says. "It's quite nice up here. You can see everything."

Chat Noir turns to look at the billboard before turning back to Ladybug, smiling wide.

"So, you look very happy tonight, my lady."

"Is that right?"

"Oh yes, you do," says Chat, putting on a pensive expression. "In fact…you look a little bit like someone in love. Does my lady have a little crush on someone?"

Ladybug raises an eyebrow and stares at him for a few seconds before it's clear that something clicks in her mind, and her eyes are both playful and perverse as she leans in, stopping only millimeters from his face.

"Wouldn't you like to know?"

She's so close he can count the freckles on the tip of her nose, and he flushes bright red and gulps as she pulls back with a pleased little smile.

"But you're a good guesser, _mon chaton_. You're right, I have met someone."

"What's he like?"

"Oh, he's not too bad," she says. "I think you'd like him."

"So…did you kiss?"

Ladybug smirks. "You're a curious little kitty, aren't you?" Yes, we did. More than once."

"And..uh…is he a good kisser?"

Chat Noir's still trying to be a flirt, but he is asking about himself after all, and he's a little nervous.

And then he sees Ladybug's slowly widening grin.

Uh oh. He is not prepared for this.

"He is an amazing kisser. And his lips are as soft as butter, and his eyes sparkle like they've seen the sun when he looks at me."

Chat Noir sputters.

Her eyes are glittering with triumph, and Chat Noir knows he's about to be a goner.

And then she moves in for the kill.

"Do you know what my favorite thing about him is?"

"What?" he squeaks.

Ladybug raises her hand and slowly traces her index finger down the side of his cheek before bopping his nose, and he has to actively remind himself to continue breathing in order to stay conscious.

"When he blushes, his cheeks turn the most adorable shade of coral you've ever seen, and they feel as warm as morning sunshine."

She pulls away then and drops her hand with a merry laugh, and it's all Chat Noir can do to keep from falling off the side of the building.

He's pretty sure from the flaming sensation on his cheeks that they've turned the exact shade of coral that she's talking about, and for once, he's grateful for the relative darkness of the evening sky.

* * *

Marinette feels like she's on top of the world.

Adrien Agreste likes her, all of her, and she likes all of him.

It's the most amazing feeling in the world, and even though she knows that both of her feet on the ground, she can't help but wonder if she's flying.

She wonders what patrol will be like tonight with Chat Noir, knowing that she spent all of last night with him.

How will he act? Will he pretend that nothing happened? Will he be even more flirtatious than usual? Marinette has no idea, and she's both curious and excited- a little exhilarated too, and just a little nervous.

She shows up half an hour early to patrol just to shake off her nerves before he gets there, and of course she realizes all too late that their meet up is in front of a gigantic billboard of Adrien's face.

And yet looking at his face again centers her. Judging from the dreamy look on his face, she's pretty sure that he was thinking about her during the photoshoot.

Anyone else might call that kind of thinking hubris, but Ladybug is simply certain of her _chaton's_ feelings for her; there's no hubris about it.

She's smiling fondly at the billboard when Chat Noir finally shows up, and there's a beat of silence as they look at each other again, and she knows that they're both remembering last night.

He says hello then, and then…he looks at the billboard and a little smirk spreads across his face as he points out that she's got a great view.

And then—and _then_ , he tells her that she looks very happy…like she's got a _crush_ on someone.

Oh, he's going to play it like _that_ , is he? Her silly little _chaton_ thinks he's so clever, teasing her about her new beau, knowing full well that he's talking about himself, with the smuggest grin on his face that she's ever seen.

Well, two can play at that game.

If there's anything that Ladybug has figured out by now, it's that Chat Noir is all talk, and the minute she flirts back, he has no idea how to respond. He's so used to her pushing him away that he's not ready for her to reciprocate, despite the fact that they were making out on his bed last night.

Ladybug knows that she can use this fact against him right now.

So she leans right into his face; so close that she can see his pupils dilate through the mask and hear his breath grow shallower as he realizes how close her lips are to his. A flurry of emotions rapidly passes through his eyes—panic, excitement, and pleasure, before finally settling on nervousness, as he gulps and asks her if he's a good kisser.

A large part of Ladybug wants to grab Chat Noir's face right now and answer his question by going right in for his lips again, (because she really is dying to) but that would a) require her to explain that she is already aware of his civilian identity and b) ignore the larger, more perverse part of her mind that is urging her to continue this game and make her flirtatious _minou_ blush from the tip of his cat ears all the way to his steel covered toes.

So instead, she decides to compliment him, and it has the intended effect.

After he hears all the nice things she has to say about his civilian self, Chat Noir looks like he's been struck anew by Cupid's arrow, and Ladybug has to resist herself from reaching out to him and keeping him from falling over the edge of the building.

She bites back a laugh. Chat Noir thinks he's so slick, but he's a blushing kitten, even when he's trying to be a flirtatious Romeo. In fact, Ladybug can already tell that his cheeks are flaming red, even in the darkness.

It's a little irresistible, and she can't help but reach out a finger to ring Chat Noir's bell, and the tinkly little chime echoes across the quiet air as he stares at her, eyes wide.

And now that she's done teasing him and they're standing together in silence again, the tension between them blooms once more.

It's all she can do not to kiss him right now, but if she did, she would risk giving away that she knows who he is, and she can't do that to him—not after he's been respectful enough not to reveal that he knows her civilian identity as well.

So she keeps mum.

* * *

They leap down from the top of the building and start patrolling the alleyways, and the silence is heavy with unspoken words.

And the words simply seem to fall from Chat Noir's tongue before he can stop himself.

"Wouldn't it be funny if we knew each other in our civilian forms, my lady?"

"Why do you mention that?"

"Just a thought."

Ladybug stops walking then, and turns to him with a curious look in her eyes, one that's simultaneously apprehensive and appraising.

Chat Noir can tell that she's trying to figure out what he's really trying to say without actually saying it, and she clearly seems conflicted about something.

Perhaps she's hesitating because of the rules she set up for the two of them. Maybe she's regretting it now, this artificial barrier that he could shred into pieces right now if he told her he knew who she was, giving her an opening to tell him that she knows too.

And maybe he would, too, if not for the shouting that comes from the next street over, that both of them hear at the same time.

* * *

Ladybug and Chat Noir both go sprinting around the corner, where they see a young father standing alone with his two children on the far end of the street in front of an apartment building. All three of them look distressed, and Ladybug doesn't know who to focus on—all three of them seem to be at risk of becoming akumatized.

"Antoine Michel Dupont, did you tear a hole in your sister's teddy bear?" asks the father, stern but weary.

The little boy's eyes turn black with fury as he shakes his fists. "NO! ANNETTE IS LYING!"

"NO, ANTOINE IS LYING!" shouts his sister, her shrill voice echoing across the air as she shakes her ruined toy up and down, the cotton stuffing spilling onto the street.

"Enough!" shouts the father, taking the teddy bear from his daughter. "We're going inside right now, and I expect both of you to tell me the truth once we are back in the apartment, or neither of you will get dinner."

"NO!" shout both the children in unison, and as Monsieur Dupont takes a deep breath, clearly preparing for another lecture, Ladybug nods at Chat Noir.

She starts running toward Monsieur Dupont, while Chat Noir heads for the children, but she isn't fast enough.

In the blink of an eye, a dark butterfly lands on the teddy bear and the darkness spreads across his body, transforming him into an imposing and monstrous figure reminiscent of a terrifying school principal that might be found in a child's nightmare, with a long moustache and a monocle.

"I AM VERITAS, and I punish all lying children!"

"Oh no," whispers Ladybug. "This isn't good."

The solution is simple enough; the akuma is inside the teddy bear. All she has to do is get to it. But she has to make sure that neither she nor Chat Noir gets caught in his clutches, or risk having all of their secrets come out in public.

Even as Ladybug realizes what she has to do, Veritas uses the teddy bear to send a beam of energy towards the children and Chat Noir that lifts them up and pins them against the building.

Veritas walks up to them, stopping by Chat Noir first, who is struggling wildly to get free.

"Well, well! It looks like I've caught a black cat!" he crows, appraising him. "Now the question is: are you an honest little kitten, or a dirty little liar?"

Ladybug holds her breath as Veritas saunters around Chat Noir, pressing his monocle close to his eye.

"Hmm…it looks like this little kitten hasn't been telling the truth lately…he's been quite the little liar, and to a close friend, too! So many secrets held inside this fragile little chest. What would his friend think if she knew how many things he was keeping from her? What a naughty little kitty. He must be punished."

Chat Noir glowers as Veritas leans in.

"But I could set you free and let your secrets stay unharmed…in exchange for your Miraculous, of course. What say?"

Ladybug scowls. "That's enough! You leave my kitty alone! It's nobody else's business what he wants to share with other people, and it's time for this interrogation to end now. LUCKY CHARM!"

Distracted by Ladybug's shouting, Veritas accidentally releases the energy beams holding Chat Noir and the children and doesn't notice Chat Noir activating Cataclysm on the ground below him. He falls into the sinkhole it creates beneath his feet with a startled squawk just as Ladybug's charm object appears, a long lasso.

Ladybug rolls her eyes and laughs as Chat Noir whispers "Wonder Woman!" and turns to her with a toothy grin. She tosses the lasso at Veritas, locking his arms to his sides as she runs over and grabs the teddy bear and tears it open, releasing the butterfly and purifying it.

She sighs with relief as the street returns to normal and Monsieur Dupont is de-akumatized.

As far as akumas go, Veritas wasn't much of a physical threat, but he could have been far more dangerous one than he was, and Ladybug is glad that he wasn't able to force any answers out of Chat Noir.

* * *

After Monsieur Dupont walks away with his children, both thankful and exhausted, it occurs to Chat Noir that he's been making all of this much more complicated than it needs to be. He didn't intend to find out Ladybug's civilian identity, and he doesn't plan to tell a soul- and he's sure that she feels the same way.

But that doesn't mean that he can't be honest with her.

Things are different now; Ladybug came to him last night, opening herself up to him, emotionally vulnerable in a way he knows she can't be with anyone else.

And because of that- because she's his best friend _and_ his lady, she deserves to know everything that he does.

Chat Noir looks at Ladybug, his eyes serious and earnest.

"My lady? I need some advice."

"What is it, _mon chaton_?"

"I need to visit someone tomorrow. I need to tell her something important. And I think that maybe I've waited too long."

"How long have you been waiting to tell her?"

"Officially? Three weeks, but unofficially, a lot longer than that."

"What made you finally decide that now is the right time?"

"She trusts me to be open and honest with her, and I want her to know that I am and will always be as trustworthy as I've promised her, even though I know something I probably shouldn't."

Ladybug's eyes widen slightly, but her expression remains otherwise calm.

"I won't tell anyone else that I know, but she needs to know that I do. Do you think she's going to be okay with that?"

"Yes. I think she will."

"I shouldn't have waited this long."

"I think she'll understand why you did."

"Thank you. That means more to me than you know."

* * *

Ladybug smiles as Chat Noir wraps her in a quick hug before he whips out his baton and soars away, for once the first to leave the scene.

It's been an interesting night, to be sure, and ironic that they've had to battle a villain who insisted on honesty from his victims, when she knows that they're both hiding something.

She thinks that maybe it's a sign that it's finally time for both of them to be honest with each other. Chat Noir is right; he was talking about himself, but she's waited too long as well. Maybe at the beginning, when they were still getting to know each other, the concern of knowing each other's civilian identities would have been a real danger.

But she knows him. And he knows her. They've shared countless moments together and their trust has been tested time and time again. Chat Noir deserves to know that she trusts him with her identity, and she knows that he must feel the same way.

So though she might be wrong, something tells Ladybug that she's going to have a visitor on her balcony sometime tomorrow, clad in magical black leather, with twinkling green eyes and a grin that could light up a galaxy.


	8. Even If We Can't Find Heaven

On Sunday morning, Sabine is woken up by the distinct scent of caramel and sugar, and she walks into the family kitchen, where Marinette is busy at work.

"What are you making, _ma petite chouette_?"

Marinette can't tell her mother that she's making a couple dozen caramel stuffed brown sugar cookies for a stray black cat she's expecting as a visitor later today, so she just says she's making them for a friend.

But Sabine is a perceptive woman, and she can tell from the sparkle in her daughter's eyes and the pretty pink flush underneath the freckles across her nose that Marinette's 'friend' is a special one.

She is a wise woman as well, so she doesn't ask any further details, even though she takes note of the cat shaped cookie cutter Marinette is clutching in her hands, as well as the fact that she's peeking at it fondly every few minutes and stroking the edges of its ears.

"Are you making anything else?" she asks instead, arms akimbo, ready to help.

Marinette considers. "Maybe some croissants? He likes those as well. Though I'm not sure if those will go well with the cookies—maybe some petit fours instead? Or maybe just some more cookies."

"Your friend is fond of sweet things, is he?" says Sabine with a laugh.

Marinette smiles. "He is! I think he likes caramel the best, though."

"It sounds like you know him well," says Sabine with a knowing smile.

"I'm beginning to, I think," replies Marinette, a little shy. "Better than before, anyway."

She thrums her fingers against the countertop before curling them into loose fists and pressing them against the edges as she leans towards her mother, barely containing her nervous energy.

"Hey, Maman, can I ask you a question?"

"Yes, Marinette?"

"How did you know that Papa was the one? Was there a moment that you just _knew_?"

Sabine smiles. "Well, you know, it's been such a long time that it's hard to remember! I can't speak for your father, of course, but I can't say that there was one specific moment for me where it all suddenly came together."

"So it wasn't love at first sight?"

"Love? No. Attraction, yes—your father has always been as charming and kind, and that was the first thing that made me notice him. But love, that takes time. You need to learn about your partner before you can truly say that you love them. To love them, you must know them. And to know your partner, you must be honest with each other, and to always communicate. Your needs, your wants, your problems—you must feel free and comfortable talking about all of those things with one another. And if you are, well—"

"Yes?"

"Well, you've found the one you love," concludes Sabine with a merry laugh. "Just like me and your Papa. Does that answer your question?"

Marinette smiles. "Yes. Yes, it does. Thank you, Maman."

"You're welcome, _ma petite chouette_."

* * *

It's a sleepy Sunday morning as the sun casts rays through the windows into Adrien's room, but he's been sitting awake in bed for hours, leaning against his headboard.

Plagg is still asleep, softly snoring on Adrien's pillow, and he smiles fondly at the little kwami, who looks grumpy even while asleep. Plagg purrs as Adrien gently strokes the top of his head, a quiet, rumbly and content sound that Adrien knows he would never admit to making while awake.

Adrien knows that his poor sleep schedule is bound to catch up with him soon, but for now, he's just letting the many emotions he's feeling wrap around him like a warm winter scarf.

It's time, he thinks, to talk to his mother.

He quietly slides off the bed, careful not to disturb Plagg, and walks over to his computer and turns the monitor on. He smiles at the desktop background of his mother at seventeen, calm and radiant even then.

It's one of Adrien's favorite pictures of his mother, but right now, he needs to talk to the woman he knows, so he navigates over to a folder containing pictures from a picnic they went on together at the Jardin du Luxembourg two years ago. He scrolls through the pictures until he finds one where she's sitting on a picnic blanket and looking straight into the camera, ever the natural model. Her eyes are filled with love and affection and it's exactly what Adrien needs right now, so he clicks on it and opens it up.

Adrien hugs his knees to his chest and takes a deep breath.

"Maman, I've met a girl. Well, I met her a long time ago, but I only just realized who she really is. And Maman, she's _amazing_. You've met her before—she came here once, to save me. Did you see how she has your smile?"

Adrien beams dreamily as he clasps his hands together.

"And today, I'm going to visit her and tell her how amazing she is. It's so funny—I think we figured out each other's identities at the same time. I don't know how it happened, but I just feel so lucky that it's her."

Adrien sighs and looks down.

"I think you would really like her. And I hope you get to meet her someday soon."

Adrien wipes away the tears that have risen unbidden to his eyes, and feels a slight pressure on his shoulder.

"Do you think she can hear me?" he asks quietly.

Adrien feels the tickle of Plagg's whiskers on his cheeks as the kwami nods.

"I'm sure she can."

* * *

Sabine watches with pride as her daughter puts the finishing touches on her caramel cat cookies and arranges them artistically on a fancy blue plate.

Marinette plucks one off the plate and hands it to her with a grin. "How do they taste, Maman?"

"Absolutely wonderful! You know, Marinette, if you make another batch of these, we can sell them as the Sunday Special today. What do you think? And your father can sleep in a little longer as well—won't that be a nice surprise?"

Marinette's eyes light up. "Yes! But—can we make them just a little differently? I want these cookies I made for my friend to be special ones, just for him."

"Of course, my dear."

* * *

In two hours, they've made three more batches of caramel cat cookies, and Marinette yawns as she trudges up the stairs to her room. Even though it's almost lunchtime, she's exhausted from making so many cookies, and combined with the three hours of sleep she got the night before, it's all starting to catch up to her.

As she plops onto her bed and buries her head in her cat pillow, Tikki zooms out of her hiding place and giggles.

"Marinette, it's almost time to eat, not to nap!"

"Tiiiiikkiii, I just want to sleeeeep."

"But what if you're asleep when Adrien comes to visit?"

Marinette stays facedown on her pillow, but shakes her head.

"It won't be Adrien. It's going to be Chat Noir. And he's going to come on the balcony like he did last time."

Tikki flies over to the pillow and looks down at her charge, laughing gently.

"And how do you know that?"

Marinette lifts her head off the pillow and turns to look at her kwami with an expression of absolute certainty, eyes twinkling.

"Just call it instinct."

As though on cue, a hard thud that is unmistakably the sound of steel toed boots lands on the balcony, and Marinette winks.

"See? I told you so!"

Tikki smiles and nuzzles Marinette's cheek with a fond sigh before diving into her purse. Today might be a day for reveals, but until that moment, she knows she has to stay out of sight.

* * *

Chat Noir soaks in the sunshine on Marinette's balcony as he waits for her to come outside.

He hadn't meant to come so early; he was going to come in the evening like he did last time, but after he finished talking to his mother, some inner instinct started pulling at him to go now, now, _now._

Plagg, of course, had been resistant at first.

"But you don't even know if she's home! Wasn't she expecting you tonight?"

"We…we never really discussed it? And I never even said I was going to visit her. Even though I'm sure she knows. She must know, right? Oh god—what if she doesn't know, and I've been misreading everything this whole time?"

" _Monsieur_ , I have been in charge of many young kittens such as yourself, and let me just say, you are in the top five for simultaneously most lovestruck and oblivious at the same time. Of course she knows. You **_both_** know, and we know too."

"And who is 'we'?"

"You'll see. But anyway, I still don't think you should go until tonight. I haven't even had my mid-morning snack yet, let alone lunch."

"Aaaand there it is. You just don't want me to transform because you haven't had your cheese yet! Will you go along with it if I give you three extra wheels for your mid-morning snack?"

"….Four. And two extra at dinner."

"Deal."

After Plagg finally got what he wanted, it wasn't difficult for Adrien to convince him to let him transform, and now he's here on Marinette's balcony.

And beginning to realize that he hasn't eaten anything all morning either, and his head is starting to spin a little bit.

Plagg might be filled to the brim with stinky camembert, but Chat Noir is running on an empty stomach, and it's rumbling through the magical leather.

Now that they're finally going to talk about each other's identities, Chat Noir thinks that perhaps once his conversation with Marinette is all said and done, he can come back in through the front entrance as Adrien and actually buy some cookies.

It would be nice to talk to Madame Cheng again as well; she's a very kind woman and a wonderful mother, and he always enjoys talking to her.

For now though, Chat Noir wants to focus on the task at hand, even though he's beginning to feel a little weak. He leans against the railing to support himself as Marinette walks onto the balcony with a smirk.

"You know, I wasn't sure if you would come in through the front door this time, but I had an instinct that you were going to come this way. And here you are."

"You know me well, _ma princesse_ ," says Chat Noir, raising an arm to rub the back of his neck with a nervous laugh.

Marinette's eyes first widen and then narrow as she stares at him keenly, taking in his pallid face.

"Wait. You…you haven't eaten anything at all today, have you?"

"What makes you say that?"

Marinette looks pointedly at his stomach as it lets out another alarmingly loud rumble, and he tries to grin at her bashfully.

"I was just too excited about visiting you to think about eating anything, you see."

Marinette sighs. "Chat Noir—"

She stops and shakes her head. "Well, I'm glad I made so many cookies for you today. You certainly need them."

At the word 'cookies', Chat Noir's ears twitch and his eyes light up.

"You made cookies for me, _ma princesse_?"

Marinette laughs and reaches up to ruffle his hair affectionately.

"Oh, _mon chaton_. Wait here. I'll be back in two minutes. We can talk after you eat."

Chat Noir smiles at Marinette's bouncing pigtails as she runs back into her room and disappears down the trap door. It feels a little unreal, sometimes, that she knows him so well. But then again, she is his lady and his partner—and even though only time will tell, he's pretty sure she's his soulmate too.

* * *

Marinette rushes down to the kitchen and picks up Chat Noir's cookies from the table and quickly warms them up in the microwave. When she takes them out, they're warm and gooey, the freshly baked scent curling into the air, and she knows that he's going to love them.

She can't believe that he hasn't eaten anything all day. She hasn't eaten much either, but she knows that she eats a lot more food than Adrien does on a daily basis, and she can only imagine how dizzy he feels right now.

Adrien is lucky that Marinette is a baker's daughter and not a carpenter's daughter, for if there's one thing that boy needs more than anything else in the world, it is food, affection, and warmth.

And sleep. Because from the looks of it, Chat Noir hasn't slept much either, and she imagines that all of this has been taking as much of an emotional toll on him as it has on her.

But they have each other now, and after their conversation, Marinette just knows that things can only go up for them from there.

Before she heads back up the stairs, she takes a quick peek at the bakery, and notices with a smile that Sabine has put the cat cookies on display with a fancy sign that says "Mother-Daughter Sunday Special".

She feels lucky to have a mother like her.

Luck, she thinks, has manifested itself for her in many different ways, and she wants to share it with Adrien—she wants to share that family warmth with Adrien, for she knows far too well that it's the main element missing from his life.

And she knows that Sabine has boundless amounts of love to give.

She can't replace Madame Agreste—nobody can—but at least they can do something to fill that void.

As she walks back onto the balcony, Chat Noir's eyes zero in on the plate of cookies, and Marinette can tell that he's barely resisting the urge to pounce upon them immediately.

She giggles as he eagerly approaches. "Careful, _mon chaton_! They're hot!"

He murmurs with pleasure as he sits down in between two potted plants, legs crossed, and starts wolfing them down.

"These are the best cookies I've ever had in my life," he mumbles through a mouthful of cookie. "I might be in heaven right now."

Marinette laughs and shrugs as she leans against the railing and watches him eat.

"Well, I know that caramel is your favorite, so—"

She pauses as Chat Noir stops eating to look at her.

And she realizes that the mention of this, such a specific detail about him, something that she wouldn't know unless she knew his civilian identity—signals the beginning of the conversation that is the real reason he's here to visit her.

"I'm sorry—you should finish eating first. We can talk after you're done."

Chat Noir shakes his head. "No—it's okay. I think we're both ready to talk about this."

Marinette nods. "You're right."

* * *

Downstairs, the bakery is surprisingly busy for a Sunday afternoon, and Sabine watches happily from the register as people crowd around the cat cookies. They're flying off the plates, and she feels very proud of Marinette for coming up with such a tasty and delicious recipe.

Within a half hour, the cookies are almost gone, and Sabine is excited to tell Marinette about their smashing success, when she notices another mother and daughter enter the bakery.

The girl looks to be about the same age as Marinette, perhaps a few years younger, and Sabine watches silently from the register as they walk around the floor. The girl's eyes light up as she spots the cat cookies and runs up to them.

"Maman! Look! Cat Cookies—and made of brown sugar, my favorite! Can we please get them? There are only a few left, and they're the Sunday Mother-Daughter Special! Please, Maman, please?"

The mother looks skeptically at the remaining cookies on the plate. They aren't the prettiest of the lot, but they are made with love, and the crooked whiskers and bright eyes would endear almost anyone else to them immediately.

Unfortunately, the woman curls her lips up in disgust, and mutters something about low quality food that Sabine can't quite make out. She tries to walk away, but her daughter is persistent, and finally, she rolls her eyes and agrees to purchase them.

Sabine smiles at the young girl, who looks surprised that her mother actually agreed to buy them, and packs the cookies in a pretty lavender cellophane bag with a ribbon tied around it before handing them back across the counter to her.

"There you go, my dear! My daughter made these cookies especially for the Sunday Special today. They're filled with caramel inside—very delicious!"

The mother looks up from her phone, eyes widening. "Pardon? Did you say _caramel_? Why was that not on the sign? We are not buying these cookies. They are going to rot your teeth. Put them down immediately, Louise. I won't ask again."

"But Maman—you promised—!"

"That was before I knew the kind of garbage that was in these. We are leaving right now."

The woman snatches the cookie bag out of her daughter's hand and roughly tosses it back on the edge of the counter before grabbing her daughter's arm and yanking her out the door. As she slams it shut, the bag falls to the ground before Sabine is able to catch it, and she runs around the counter to see the damage that's been done.

As Sabine leans down to pick up the bag, she doesn't even have to open it up. She can see right through the lavender cellophane that the cookies are crushed.

* * *

"So—" say Marinette and Chat Noir at the same time.

"You go first," they say, again in unison.

"No you—"

"No you!"

Chat Noir places a hand over his mouth and gestures at Marinette. _Ladies first_.

Marinette looks down at the plate of half eaten cookies and laughs. "Okay…so, wow…well, I've been building this up in my head for a long time now, but I feel so lucky that—"

The ground suddenly quivers underneath them, and a cold rush of something that feels both distinctly malicious and chaotic sweeps through the building, and Marinette immediately stops talking as her entire being fills with dread.

She looks over to Chat Noir and nods, and they both run back inside her room.

Marinette scrunches her eyebrows together as she presses her ears to the trap door and tries to hear what's happening below more clearly.

It's obvious that there's an akuma downstairs, but she wants to know what's happening before she transforms in front of Chat Noir for the first time.

It was going to happen at some point; Marinette thought that perhaps it would have happened at a calmer moment, after they actually had a chance to have a real conversation about identities and trust and acceptance—the kind of conversation they were about to have right now—but apparently the universe is more interested in action than it is in words.

And then Marinette's heart stops beating as she recognizes the shouting voice that's echoing through the trap door. It's unmistakably—

"Maman? _Maman!_ "

Marinette turns in a panic to look at Chat Noir, who holds her gaze as he nods at her, calm and steady.

She doesn't have to say anything; she knows that he already understands everything.

Chat Noir holds out his hand, and Marinette takes it.

"Come on, my lady. Let's go save your mother."


	9. Love, You're Not Alone

Marinette grips Chat Noir's hand so tightly that she's practically crushing it. Her heart is beating a million times a minute and she has no idea what's going on with her mother down below, but she can feel the calm reassurance he's emanating through his gloves and it centers her again.

Even though she feels as terrified as she was the first time she fought an akuma, she knows that he's there with her, standing by her side, and he understands how crucial the stakes are; perhaps even more than she does.

He looks down at her, calm but urgent.

"You can do this, my lady," he says. "I believe in you."

"So...you know who I am," she murmurs. She knows the answer is obvious, but she still wants to hear it from her partner's lips.

Chat Noir nods. "Salut, Ladybug," he says, in a near whisper.

Marinette feels as though a huge weight has finally been lifted off her shoulders, and he gently laughs as she looks down and sighs loudly, unable to contain her incredible sense of relief.

"And you know who I am too, right?"

Marinette looks back up and nods. "Salut, Adrien," she whispers back, squeezing his hands and closing her eyes as he leans down and rests his forehead against hers, trying her best to live in the perfect solitude of the moment before diving headfirst into the storm.

Tikki gives the young couple a few moments before finally zooming out of her hiding place and flying up beside them. She looks between the two teens, who are both holding their breath as they take everything in. She quickly waves to Chat Noir before turning to Marinette, serious.

"Marinette, it's time for you to transform. We have to save your mother from Hawk Moth."

Marinette takes a deep breath and nods. "You're right, Tikki. _Transforme-moi!_ "

* * *

For the first time, Chat Noir watches without hesitation as Marinette transforms from the friendly and sweet classmate he's been slowly learning about over the past week into the strong-willed partner who he knows and trusts with his life, and he finally feels like the last puzzle piece has clicked into place.

No longer does he have to look away. He can keep his eyes wide open. There are no more secrets, and it all feels right—or at least it will, once they save Marinette's mother from the evil that has corrupted her.

As the last vestiges of the magic from Ladybug's transformation float away, he pulls out his baton and looks to the window before he turns back to her.

"Are you ready to go?"

"Yes," says Ladybug with a nod. "But before we go, can you please do me a favor?"

"You know I would do anything for you, no questions asked."

"Remind me not to call her Maman."

Chat Noir scoots back over to her and moves her bangs over with one hand before pressing a quick kiss to her forehead.

"I will, I promise."

* * *

Ladybug rushes back out to the balcony and looks down, surveying the scene. Despite the commotion she heard from her bedroom, the street seems calm— except for the fact that the air smells sickeningly sweet, filled with a sugary odor much like the bakery itself, but amped up by a metric ton with a slightly burnt undertone.

It's burning her nose, and as she turns to Chat Noir, who's followed her onto the balcony, she can see from his wrinkled nose that it's having a similar effect on him. His cat ears twitch as he listens for anything unusual on the streets that Ladybug can't hear, but all is calm outside.

He turns to her with a frown. "I think whatever is happening is all happening downstairs."

"I think so too. But we can't enter from my room, or Papa is going to realize who I am- we need to leave and come back. Let's leap across a few streets first and come back to the front so nobody gets suspicious."

"Good plan. Let's go."

Chat Noir looks at Ladybug with concern as she sighs.

"I hope he's okay."

"I'm sure he is, my lady. He's your father, after all. He's as brave as you."

Ladybug simply nods before perching on the edge of the railing and leaping off into the distance.

Silently, he follows.

* * *

A few minutes later, they circle back and land in front of the bakery, and Tom comes running, looking frantic.

"Ladybug, thank goodness you're here! My wife has been akumatized and I don't know where my daughter is. Please, save them!"

"Pap— Monsieur Dupain, I promise to save your wife, and I can tell you right now that your daughter is safe. I made sure she was out of harm's way before coming here."

"Thank you so much," he responds, though he is still clearly distressed. "I don't want Marinette to see her mother like this."

Ladybug winces, but Chat Noir places a calming hand on her shoulder and turns to Tom.

"It's our duty, monsieur. We promise to save your family and restore everything back to normal as soon as possible."

Tom nods, though his fatherly instinct compels him to add a note of caution- even though he knows the superpowered teens are more than capable of facing danger.

"Please be careful!"

Ladybug turns to her father with what she hopes is a confident smile.

"Don't worry, Monsieur Dupain. We've got this under control."

She nods at Chat Noir. "Time to go in."

They approach the entrance of the bakery, which has been transformed into a candy and gingerbread fortress, all the more sinister looking for the sweet things it is made of.

As Chat Noir tries to open the door, thorny ropes made of black licorice suddenly burst from the ground and block his way. He jumps back as the licorice quickly winds up the walls of the bakery like sentient ivy, and Ladybug swears she can almost hear it hissing at him like a rival cat.

He turns to her with a frown. "Should I use Cataclysm to force our way in?"

Ladybug shakes her head. "No— it's too early to use it. There's got to be another way to get in."

Even as she speaks, a gap opens in the bakery walls and two licorice ropes come hurtling down the wall and rush towards them, wrapping around their waists and knocking them off their feet before yanking them inside.

The ropes dump them at the entrance of what looks like a gingerbread cave before slithering away, and Ladybug and Chat Noir stand up, rubbing their limbs, sore from the bumpy ride.

"This is _pawful_ ," mutters Chat Noir, wrinkling his nose as he takes in a big whiff of the sickly sweet scent from outside which is far more potent and concentrated within the confines of the gingerbread walls. As they enter the cave, they immediately notice a long table where at least thirty terrified children are glued to chairs that look like giant gumdrops, unable to move, while their mothers are trapped in birdcages hanging from the ceiling.

Several of the mothers immediately notice Ladybug and Chat Noir walking in, but Ladybug silently motions at them to stay quiet, and they nod, eyes wide, as Sabine suddenly appears, entering through an enormous door next to the head of the table.

She looks like a candy witch out of a fairy tale herself, almost two feet taller and broader than before. Her classy bob is now straggly, long, and gray, hitting the floor. She is swathed in cavernous white robes that are covered with with patterns of cookies and pastries, her eyes gaunt and coal black.

She saunters by the table, conjuring countless bags of cookies out of thin air and placing them in front of the children with a smile.

"Hello, my chicks, I am Mother Hen! I am here to feed all the children! Eat, my children, don't be afraid to eat! Your mean mothers can't stop you from eating all the cookies and pastries you want now. Mother Hen will make sure that every single one of you is well fed, so eat to your heart's content."

The children all look at each other with bated breath, too afraid to move, let alone pick up a cookie that is pulsing with dark magic.

Mother Hen smiles, sinister and intimidating, and leans into the face of one of the young girls with a whisper.

"Naughty children who _don't_ eat their cookies will be put into the birdcages with their naughty mothers. Is that something you want?"

The young girl gulps. "No, madame. I'll eat the cookies."

"Good girl," says Mother Hen with a satisfied smile, though she waits until the girl picks the cookie up and is about to take a bite before she moves onto the next child at the table.

"And you, little boy, aren't you going to eat?"

"Yes madame," says the boy, who must be no more than seven.

Ladybug growls under her breath. She has fought countless akumas over the past year, and even her best friend, but seeing how Hawk Moth has perverted her mother's giving nature makes her want to march right into his lair and punch him in the face.

But before she breaks his face, she has to save her mother.

" _Maman—_ " she starts to shout, until Chat Noir squeezes her shoulder and she remembers.

"Madame Cheng! You're not helping these children, you're scaring them!"

Mother Hen whirls around, her eyes suddenly glowing dark red like lava as she spots the newcomers.

"Who dares call me Madame Cheng? My name is _Mother Hen_ , and I am the protector of all the little children of Paris _._ "

"Sorry to crumble your cookies, Mother Hen, but I don't think those children want anything to do with you," says Chat Noir, eyebrows raised.

Mother Hen smiles. "Ah, it's Ladybug and Chat Noir! How nice of you to join my little feast. Please, take a seat at my table. I have enough fresh cookies for everyone, even you."

Ladybug shakes her head and clenches her fists. "Mother Hen, we're not here to eat. We're here to defeat you."

Even as a battle hardened hero, it feels incredibly strange for her to say things like that to her own mother, and Ladybug can feel Chat Noir's concerned eyes on her as she takes a battle stance.

Mother Hen simply smiles and chortles at Ladybug's combative words before pulling a large golden bottle from the gigantic bag of cookies she is holding, which she turns upside down.

* * *

Ladybug's eyes widen as a torrent of boiling molasses comes gushing out of the bottle and rushes towards them like sugary lava, and she backflips into the air, leapfrogging off the walls and landing on top of the table while Chat Noir uses his baton to do the same, landing right beside her.

Both the children and their mothers cheer at the dynamic duo's acrobatics, and Chat Noir gives them a cheesy grin and a wave before he notices Mother Hen quietly pulling something else out of her bag and preparing to launch it at Ladybug.

"Ladybug, watch out!" he shouts as a large glob of sticky cookie dough comes hurtling towards them, using his baton to lob it back at Mother Hen and momentarily immobilizing her against a wall as Ladybug dives onto the table to get out of the way.

Chat Noir crouches onto the table beside her.

"I think the akuma is in that cookie bag," he whispers in her ear.

Ladybug hums in agreement. "You're right, that's where she's getting all of her weapons from. The question now is how to get to it. She's going to be free of that cookie dough any moment now."

"Um, Ladybug?" pipes up one of the little girls sitting at the table. "I think I might have an idea. I think Chat Noir should use Cataclysm. Everything in here is made of gingerbread, so if he uses it, everything will go down and we can escape while you defeat Mother Hen!"

"What a smart young kitten!" responds Chat Noir with a grin. "What's your name?"

"I'm Aurelie!" says the girl, flashing a smile that reveals two missing teeth. "Pleased to meet you!"

"You certainly seem to know a lot about Cataclysm," comments Ladybug with a smile.

"That's because Chat Noir is my favorite superhero!" replies Aurelie, eyes sparkling. "Oh, but you're cool too, Ladybug," she adds as an afterthought.

Chat Noir snickers. "Looks like you've got competition for your spot as #1 fan of Chat Noir, _Buginette_."

Ladybug rolls her eyes and elbows Chat Noir in the side.

He sobers up. "But my lady, I believe little Aurelie here has the right idea. I think it might be a good idea for you to activate Lucky Charm, too."

Ladybug nods in agreement. "Good plan."

Chat Noir sits up and offers her a hand, watching proudly as she stands up and shouts " _Lucky Charm!_ "

A large magnifying glass falls from above, and Ladybug stares at it in confusion.

"A magnifying glass? What am I supposed to do with this?"

Her reverie is cut short, as Mother Hen finally breaks free of the cookie dough and lunges forward.

Ladybug whirls around to Chat Noir, eyes like steel.

" _Go, go now!_ "

Chat Noir jumps up and quickly charges across the table, activating Cataclysm as he leaps onto the wall and sprints across it, quickly disintegrating all of the gingerbread and candy furniture, which melts and turns into multicolored lumps, exposing the original building, allowing the children to escape and run outside.

The mothers trapped in the birdcages shriek as they hurtle downward, stopping mere inches from the ground as Ladybug propels her yo-yo through the bars of the cages and winds it up to the steel beams of the ceiling.

Mother Hen screeches and shields her face with her arms as the sun suddenly pours through the re-exposed windows into her eyes, which gives Ladybug an idea. She angles the magnifying glass so that the sun rays aim directly at Mother Hen, and as she's blinded by the brightness, she drops the cookie bag.

Ladybug sprints over and picks it up, ripping it apart and watching with satisfaction as the akuma comes fluttering out.

* * *

As she purifies the akuma and restores everything back to normal, Ladybug can feel all of the adrenaline flooding away from her body.

But just as her knees start to buckle, Chat Noir comes to stand beside her, and his supporting hand on the small of her back keeps her upright and standing tall.

She turns to him with a grateful smile as Aurelie comes skipping up to them and looks back and forth appraisingly between them.

"Monsieur Chat Noir, can I ask you a question?" she asks, sounding sweet and guileless.

"Yes, of course, Mademoiselle Aurelie. What would you like to know?"

Aurelie's sweet smile turns conspiratorial. "You're _my_ favorite superhero, but Ladybug is yours, isn't she?"

Chat Noir blushes and nods a small yes before he turns to Ladybug with a small smile and a raised fist in anticipation of a fist bump.

Ladybug turns to Aurelie and winks at her before turning back to her partner and rising up on her toes to kiss him on the cheek instead.

As Chat Noir gasps and his blush turns deep red, Ladybug leans in close to his ear.

" _Bien joué, mon chaton,"_ she whispers, pulling back with a smirk as Aurelie runs giggling back to her mother and both of their Miraculouses begin to beep.

She grabs his hand and jerks her head towards the back of the bakery. "Come on, let's go to the kitchen to detransform. There won't be anyone there right now."

Both of their transformations disappear just as they run through the doors of the kitchen, and as the kwamis reappear, Marinette looks curiously at Plagg, who perches on Adrien's shoulder and returns her stare with an appraising expression before turning to Tikki, who is watching him with an expectant expression of her own.

"Tikki, why didn't you tell me that your new Ladybug lives in a kitchen? Think of all the Camembert I've missed out on, it's really not fair!"

Tikki sighs. "Marinette, this is Plagg, Chat Noir's kwami. His food of choice is Camembert cheese. Would you happen to have any in the fridge? Unless you have some in your bag, Adrien."

Marinette turns to look at Adrien with astonishment. As he silently shrugs, something snaps in the air and they both burst into laughter as Plagg continues to whine about needing cheese.

* * *

A few moments later, Marinette retrieves some leftover Camembert from the family fridge and gives it to Plagg as Tikki happily munches away on cookies. She leans against the counter, tired but relieved.

"It's nice to not have to run away anymore after battles, isn't it?" says Adrien, wiping tears of laughter from his eyes.

Marinette nods and smiles. "It really, really is. I didn't realize how much of a relief it would be."

They lapse back into a comfortable silence, when Marinette hears her parents' voices calling for her from outside.

Adrien hears Sabine's voice as well and takes Marinette's hand, squeezing it reassuringly. "Come on, _Buginette_ , let's go see how your mother is doing. I'm sure they're worried about where you are."

* * *

Back in the front of the bakery, Sabine rubs her head and looks around, completely disoriented, as Marinette and Adrien come running.

"Marinette? Tom? Where am I?"

"Maman, you were akumatized."

"What? Oh dear, I hope I didn't cause too much damage, I really should have been more careful not to get so angry."

Marinette shakes her head. "It's okay, Maman. Hawk Moth seeks out good people when they least expect it. That's why it's so important for everyone to stay alert for the black butterflies."

Sabine sighs and looks down. "I was just so angry that the little girl who came in with her mother wasn't able to enjoy the cookies you made—did you know her mother actually threw them back on the counter?"

Adrien moves forward and places a calming hand on Sabine's shoulder. "Please, Madame Cheng, don't blame yourself. Hawk Moth is a very cunning man. It's not your fault!"

Sabine looks up at Adrien, momentarily confused at his presence, before she looks back and forth between the boy and her daughter and a knowing smile slowly spreads across her face.

"Oh, Adrien, it's so nice to see you again! I'm so sorry about all of this akuma nonsense, Marinette spent this entire morning baking cookies for you. I do apologize if I ruined her surprise. She was so excited about giving them to you!"

 _"Mamaaaan!"_ whines Marinette as Adrien grins.

Tom puts a supporting hand around Sabine's shoulders.

"Marinette, why don't you take Adrien up to your room and talk for a while? I'll help your mother clean up down here."

"Are you sure, Papa?" says Marinette, uncertain.

Tom nods. "Yes, Marinette. Go enjoy yourselves and relax a little. We will take care of everything down here."

Marinette turns to Adrien in silent protest, but just as he is about to reply, he notices a subtle wink from Tom and changes course.

"You heard Monsieur Dupain," he says with a grin. "Lead the way to your room, _ma princesse_."

Marinette's jaw drops before she whirls around to look at her father, who isn't quick enough to put on his poker face.

Grumbling, she storms up the stairs, followed by Adrien, who turns back to Tom and exchanges a silent thumbs up.

As the two teens disappear into Marinette's room, Tom turns to Sabine with a satisfied smile.

"Do you think it's too early to start designing a wedding cake?" he asks.

"I would wait a little, my dear," replies Sabine. "Maybe a year. Before then would be too early."

"I knew I married you for a reason."

* * *

Adrien and Marinette stand on her balcony in silence, both looking out onto the quickly darkening horizon, until Adrien clears his throat and turns his gaze to Marinette.

"So...how long has it been since you found out I was Chat Noir?"

Marinette turns to him with a small smile. "Three weeks."

"Three weeks— wait, that's how long I've known about you too!"

"When? How?"

Right after we defeated The Ticketmaster. I saw you detransform and I was walking away—I tried looking away, but I wasn't fast enough, and there you were, and I didn't know what to do about it."

Marinette bursts into laughter. "Oh my god...now I understand why you looked so dazed that night."

"What do you mean?"

"I must have seen you right after you saw me. When I saw you detransform, you looked like you had just had the shock of your life, and I almost ran to you, you looked so pale. And then I realized that I wasn't transformed, and it would have given everything away, but I guess I already did that, huh?"

"Great minds think alike, my lady," says Adrien with a smile.

Marinette's eyes crinkle up at the corners as she bursts into giggles.

"What? What is it?" asks Adrien.

Marinette shakes her head. "It's just that I don't know if I'm ever going to get used to the idea of you, _Adrien Agreste_ , calling me 'my lady'. I mean, this whole week, I've been trying to learn more about you and come to terms with the fact that you and Chat Noir are the same person. I used to think the two of you were so different, but now that I know the truth, I can't believe I didn't make the connection earlier. Still, it's a little crazy, the way everything has turned out to be so connected. Fate is weird, isn't it?"

"Bad weird or good weird?"

"Good weird. Definitely good weird. I mean, my best friend and partner is the exact same person as the sweet boy I fell for on the first day of school, after he offered me his umbrella. How much more good weird could things be?"

"Yeah, you're right," Adrien replies, visibly relieved.

Marinette leans toward him with a grin. "Was it weird for you too, discovering that I'm Ladybug?"

Adrien shakes his head, his expression earnest and serious. "No, not at all. Everything actually started making so much more sense after I did. My lady couldn't be anyone _but_ you."

"I'm so happy you're my partner, my Chat Noir...so happy you're _mine_ ," says Marinette, reaching up to cup his cheeks as she leans up and gently presses her lips against his.

"Me too," says Adrien, reaching his arms around her in a warm embrace. "Me too."


	10. Head Over Feet

t's been two weeks since Adrien told Marinette that he knew she was Ladybug, and to his surprise, the main emotion he feels is satisfaction.

He's been learning a lot about Marinette over the past few weeks—the way her lips quirk up at the sides when she's telling a little white lie about where she's been after an akuma attack, the way she gasps with indignation whenever he tells a particularly egregious pun, the way her awkwardness rears its unruly head whenever she least expects it, and, most recently, that he has completely underestimated how much of a flirt she is, and how unprepared he is to handle it.

He overheard Alya talking to Nino about it the other day, how Marinette loves how easy it is to fluster him, and how baffled she is—though happy and extremely curious—that her best friend and Adrien are finally dating, and Nino promising to do his best to talk to Adrien and learn all the details that Marinette refuses to share.

Thanks to years of experience watching romantic comedies where best friends do their best to wheedle information out of the main characters, Adrien has learned to be pretty good at changing the subject and shying away from talking about any topics that make it easy for either Nino or Alya to have an opening to ask about their relationship, because considering how inquisitive Alya is, with enough detail, Adrien has a feeling it won't take her that long to put together the pieces about their superhero identities—especially since it's only been two days since a nosy tabloid photographer caught Ladybug and Chat Noir in a romantic embrace after an akuma battle.

Of course, Adrien still wants to tell the whole world that he's dating the coolest, smartest, most amazing girl in Paris. He's always liked Marinette and as the days go by, he can't imagine his life without her in it, but the fact of the matter is that they're not just two teenagers dating each other, they're also a superhero team in charge of protecting Paris, and there's no telling when danger might strike—it's essential that they put the safety of their beloved city's citizens above everything else.

So why do it? Plagg is curious why the two of them are so willing to deal with the complications of a romantic relationship between partners and classmates when there are so many things that could go wrong—even though in the meantime, the little kwami is falling harder and deeper for Marinette's charms with every trip Adrien makes to the bakery, despite his unconvincing protests.

And then, the day they're battling with a particularly rough akuma, it happens. Chat Noir falls off a roof just as he runs out of time on his Miraculous, and Ladybug goes diving after him, the string from her yo-yo wrapping around both of them as they hurtle downward, their bodies pressed together as the string catches and they sway back and forth upside down, just like the first day they met.

The blood is rushing to Adrien's head and he's dizzy from the magic rushing out of his body, so he can't quite appreciate what's happening, but Ladybug is smiling and alert as Plagg comes zooming out with a concerned look in his eyes.

"Plagg, in my pouch! There's a packet of spare Camembert in there," she says, jerking her head upwards to her waist. "Eat it quickly so he can transform again. _Mon minou_ , you're okay, right?"

Adrien nods and smiles. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Good," she replies, wrapping her arms more tightly around him as the swinging steadies.

Adrien is fascinated by the unusual look of surprise in Plagg's eyes as he flies over to the pouch where Ladybug has kept a packet of spare Camembert. It's clear that he's realizing something.

"I think I understand now," murmurs the little kwami through bites of cheese, before turning his beady gaze to Adrien. "This is why you've been keeping those cookies next to the Camembert, isn't it? In case something like this happens?"

"Yes," says Adrien. "That's why. I want to be there for her, no matter what happens. So I try to be prepared."

Ladybug smiles before turning to look once more at the little kwami hovering in front of them.

"Well then, are you satisfied?"

Plagg sighs. "I suppose so."

"Adrien, he's all yours."

"Plagg, _transforme moi_!"

It's a new experience, transforming from Adrien to Chat Noir while literally pressed against Ladybug, the magic rushing like ribbons made of lightning around his skin, and Ladybug's eyes are as wide as can be as she watches the ancient magic envelop him like a sudden gust of wind.

As the transformation ends, she releases the tension on the yo-yo string, and as they start falling back towards the ground, Chat Noir extends his baton all the way to the ground and they grasp onto the thin metal, swinging around it as they slide down it like a fireman's pole.

It's a spontaneous and unexpected moment, and Ladybug bursts into merry peals of laughter as their feet touch the ground.

"Good job, kitty!" she exclaims, tickling his chin.

"What, no kiss for your chaton?" he responds with a little pout.

She rolls her eyes. "No! Absolutely no kisses until we defeat the akuma."

"Well then, my lady, what are we waiting for?"

Ladybug laughs and springs away, and he joyfully follows.

* * *

It's been two weeks since Marinette told Chat Noir that she knew he was Adrien, and to her surprise, the main emotion she feels is peace.

She's always been so nervous about letting anyone else in, about revealing a secret that sharing would jeopardize the safety of everyone in her city that she's never realized quite how tightly wound she's always been.

Knowing that she no longer has to run away from Chat Noir when her Miraculous runs out of time is a relief and a luxury she never thought she would have. The fact that there's someone else she can confide in about the crazy double life she leads—it's wonderful and comforting in a way that she never expected it would be, and though she knows that being aware of each other's dual identities has the potential to be dangerous, the comfort and support makes it all worth it.

There's something so lovely about knowing that she can stay with her partner after a battle, that he is also her love, and that even though there's a lot they still have to learn about each other, knowing each other's identities has put them in a better emotional place than either of them have been in months.

The more Marinette thinks about it, the more she admires Adrien for being able to balance it all with no help from anyone but Plagg—the pressures of a high profile life, doing well in school, athletics, _and_ hiding a secret superhero identity on top of all that.

But Marinette knows that Adrien admires her too, and in fact, he often says that he even has it easier than her. Marinette doesn't buy it; there's no way that her loving, caring parents could possibly make her life as complicated as her boyfriend's life is, but she appreciates the sentiment.

One night, when they're on a joint civilian night patrol, trying to take it easy after a particularly rough akuma battle (in reality, it's actually a date and they both know it, but Marinette is insistent upon calling it a patrol, just for tradition's sake), they find themselves back at Point Zero in front of Notre Dame. Tikki and Plagg are both napping in their respective resting spots, their tiny snores echoing through the air, and Adrien and Marinette are truly alone.

It's a quiet November night, a new moon, the sky dark and the streets nearly empty. Marinette knows that anyone else looking at the two of them holding hands and laughing would think they're just a couple of crazy romantic kids; and while they are, their story is so much more than that.

Point Zero is a place where people have come for generations to make wishes for the future, to silently offer prayers and dreams to the shiny metal star embedded into the stone, imbuing it with a sort of power that almost emanates in the softly lit night air. As Marinette looks down at the well worn star, she feels overcome by the sensation of being part of something far bigger than either her or Adrien, and squeezes tighter.

"What is it?" he asks, sensing her restlessness.

"Can you feel it?" Marinette replies, eyes wide.

"Feeling infinitely tiny in an infinite cosmos? Oh, yes," he replies, his voice deadpan and utterly serious, though the twinkle in his eyes gives him away.

She snorts and shoves his arm. "Oh, hush, Monsieur Philosopher!"

Adrien grins and shrugs. "Hey, you asked! I'm only being honest."

Marinette laughs and sighs. "Well, you're not _wrong_. I do feel a little small today."

"How so?"

"Well, when we're fighting together—I just feel so powerful and free, like we're on top of the world, like we could do anything—even though we're both so young. And yet I know it's not going to last forever, you know? You and I, we're not the first Ladybug and Chat Noir. And we won't be the last."

Adrien purses his lips as he considers this. "Do you think we're the first Ladybug and Chat Noir to fall in love?"

"I don't know," says Marinette. "I guess we could ask Tikki and Plagg, if they're willing to tell us."

"Somehow I feel like they won't tell us. At least not until we're old and married. But I like to think that we're a very special Ladybug and Chat Noir. The only two to fall for each other in the City of Lights and of Love."

"Is that a roundabout proposal, Monsieur Agreste? Are you hiding a ring in your coat pocket somewhere?"

Adrien takes her other hand and turns to face her as he leans down and presses a kiss to her forehead with a smile. "Not tonight. But someday. You can count on it."

"I'll hold you to that, Adrien," replies Marinette, eyes sparkling. "I'll be waiting."

"I know," he says. "And I'll be there."


End file.
